Eternity Rising II: Return of Triumph
by Lilith Rei
Summary: The mission to rescue Cagali breaks off into two fronts as Twlight begins their assult on earth, dragging Dearka as his newfound family into a struggle for survival. Twilight makes plans to take Rey back, and Suzuka steps up to the challenge.RxOC,AxC,YxS
1. Chapter 1

_Sorry for the wait, but here it is! Thanks for being so patient. I am currently trying to upload character sketches for Tess, Cedric, Ezekiel, and Virgil to my livejournal as well asa few pages of random sketches. It'll take a little while to load. The ones for Suzuka and a few of the other characters will take a while because they will have more then one character page, and I don't have a scanner at home (I use the one at school) so I will have to get those up sometime next week. _

_I'll be going to Anime Detour this weekand, so the next update may not be until sunday night or monday. I'll be cos-playing at Tsubasa Sakura (thanks to Trar who is a wonderful at sewing and is letting me borrow it). _

_Have fun reading this chapter. Review if you can._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny_

* * *

Yzak walked down the hallway of Orb. He was somewhat in one piece now,but the doctor was permitting him to remain on administrative duties only. Shiho had left about an hour ago, and thiswas the longest stretch of time that he had been by himself. She was either with him, or he was talking with Athrun, or ordering soliders, or being poked and prodded at by the physicians. Since he was very important to the upcomming mission, his healthwas constantly being monitored, which was a pain in the ass. 

Yzakwas actually enjoying the time to himself. Stopping a moment, he stared at the window, and for a brief second, thought about how his mother was doing. Maybe he would try to negotiate with someone to allow him to send a secure transmission to her so she would at least know that he was alright.

As he was about entertain the idea of going to the diner for a cup of coffee, he heard someone running down the hallway.

"CAPTAIN!" someone called, "CAPTAIN JULE!"

It was Abby, his CIC Controller.

"What is it Sargent Hall?" he asked.

"We've detected something about 100 miles away from Carpentaria. I think you should come look at it."

"Oh, what?"

"A battle sir." she said, "Twilight has just begun it's invasion of earth."

* * *

Dearka pulled himself up, hauling Miriallia up with him. Turning to her, she was still clinging to his chest. 

"Miriallia, I need to go outside. Please stay here-"

"No!" she shook her head, "I won't let you out there alone!"

There was another rumble of the ground, and she felt Dearka jump as shooting sounded outside, along with the sounds of people screaming.

"Damn it. Stay close!" he yelled, opening the door.

He dragged her by the hand through the crowd of people. Running to the infirmary, Ellanor was frantically running tending to the newly arrived wounded.

"Ellanor-san!" Dearka ran to her.

"Twilight has attacked." she said, "We have soliders, but we can't defend them for long."

"What about Rich and my team?" Miriallia said.

"Your team hasn't returned from town yet." Ellanor said.

Miriallia let out a relieved sigh. They would go into town to sleep at night, when she preferred staying in the village. They would be safe there.

"What are we going to do?" Ellanor frowned, "We have don't have the resources to fight them. The village will-"

"I'll help you." Dearka said, "We have to get out of here."

The two women stared at him in shock.

"I am a ZAFT solider." he said, "I know how these people fight. They are blunt, and to the point. Right now, they are only toying with us."

"Dearka-"

"What do you have in mind?" Ellanor looked at him.

Dearka was silent a moment.

"How many vehicles do we have?"

"10."

"Load the wounded onto them. Then gather all the women, children, and old people and take them as well." he said, "Begin to evacuate now."

"Right away." Ellanor smirked, rushing off, and shouting orders to the other nurses and aids.

"Dearka?" Miriallia looked at him.

"I'm going to go now. Please stay here and help Ellanor-san."

"No!" she grabbed his shirt, "I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I won't get hurt, don't worry." he smiled, "I'm going to save everyone this time. So please, go with Ellanor."

Miriallia stared at him and then nodded.

"Good." he said, turning around for a second, he walked a few feet and then paused.

"Dearka?" she looked at him confused.

"I forgot something."

"Oh?"

Dearka whipped around, pulling her into his arms, he crushed his lips onto hers. She felt her entire body melt into his as he roughly kissed her. As he slowly slipped his lips off hers, he smirked, licking her upper lip.

"Nevermind, I didn't forget anything."

He let go of her and disappeared out of the door. Miriallia found herself smiling, still slightly dazed from the sudden kiss. Ellanor laid a hand on her shoulder,

"He's a damn good kisser."

Miriallia's face turned deep red, "Ellanor!"

* * *

Dearka ran threw the village. He was not going to let these people die if he had anything to say about it. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a red form to the right. Grabbing the arm of his attacker, he slammed him into the ground. Quickly picking up the gun from the unconcious man, he slid down the hill to the crowd of villagers below. 

"What's going on?" he yelled over the gunfire.

"We're trying to hold them back!" the middle-aged man yelled, "But it's not going to hold."

"We need to get everyone out of here." Dearka said, "Send half of the group back, we need to evacuate the villagers, and there will need to be a protected escape route."

"What-"

"The rest of us will stay here and defend till they leave." Dearka caulked the rifle back, firing it on one solider that was getting to close to their man-made barrier. He caulked it back once more, "Twilight will send these soliders in, but this is only the beginning. We won't survive when the mobile suits reach us. They want to use the village as a base of operations, so they have no interest in keeping any of us alive."

"Ah."

The man, as well as a few others were staring at Dearka now with interest.

"Name's Eli Baker." the man shook his hand, "Who the hell are you?"

"Dearka Elthman." Dearka smiled, "Major."

"Well, Elthman, what do you have in mind?"

Dearka smirked at him.

* * *

They sat in the control room, all gravely quiet.

"This is a serious matter." Athrun said, "That is in Orb territory."

"We can't afford to send out troops quite yet." Yzak said, "We're not prepared. We'll only be crushed."

"What should we do, Athrun?" Kira asked.

"We will proceed with the plan for now. Once you get to the Eternal, inform them of the situation. However, Carpentaria is in that area. It's a ZAFT base that refuses to abide by Twlight's orders, so we will send them reinforcements." Athrun said, "If Twlight captures Carpentaria at one point, that entire area will be under their control."

"Who should we send though?" Lacus asked, "Everyone is already doing something."

Athrun thought a moment.

"How about Mr. Asuka?" Kira asked.

Athrun stared at him.

"What?" he stared at Kira.

"Shinn has the competency for commanding a unit." Rey said, "But he has never had to be in command of a full squadron before."

"He can handle it." Kira said, "I think he understands enough to be able to."

Athrun thought a moment, "Alright. I will put both him and Lunamaria in charge of the squad." he looked at Kisaka, "Send a tranmission to the Eternal, inform Captain DaCosta that Shinn and Luna will be staying here. With Mwu-san, Kira, and Rey, there will be more then enough pilots."

"Aye sir."

Rey frowned to himself as everyone continued to talk, noticing that Suzuka had remained quiet the whole time. For a second, he felt her tug on his sleeve. Looking at her, she looked distressed.

"Suzuka?"

"Let's go Rey."

They quietly excused themselves from the meeting. Walking down the hallway, Rey looked at her.

"Suzuka, is there something bothering you?" he asked.

She gasped, "No...I'm just tired."

Rey glanced back at the floor, and slowly raised his hand. He held onto her hand, to her surprise.

"Don't worry, I'll always be here." he said.

Suzuka leaned against his shoulder, "Promise?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"Shit..." the young Captain cursed as he tried to ruffle through the papers, "Why do they have to send me all this damn paperwork? I swear, next time I see Commander Bartfield I'm going to kick his a-"

The door opened, and a girl walked in with a cup of coffee. He stared at her a moment, and smiled.

"Ah, Miss Hawke, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today?" he asked.

"Coffee." she said, "It's 2 am, sir. You have been working 11 hours straight. That's not healthy you know."

"I know, I just...can't help it. Commander Bartfeild and Lacus-sama are hard acts to follow." he sighed, taking a big gulp of coffee.

Meyrin smiled at him, "If it's any consolation, I think you're doing just fine."

Martin DaCosta was the captain of the Eternal. Although it was still Lacus's ship, when she was gone he was in command of it. He was one of the youngest officers on the bridge, and somehow, he was given the position. Even though he really did not want in the first place. He had always been reserved, introverted...not really a fan of being in the spotlight. Now he was captain of one of the most powerful ships in the fleet.

He had not had a vaccation in 3 years...

"Would you like to get something to eat?" Meyrin asked him, "The cook wouldn't mind."

"Sounds like a good idea."

The com beeped. Martin pressed the button,

"DaCoasta here."

"_Sir, there is a transmission from Orb here for you_."

"Oh?"

"_It's from Lord Zala himself_."

He would have to hold that dinner appointment. Looking at Meyrin, he got up and they left his office for the bridge. She was his CIC controlller, and without her organization, he probably would have been screwed over by now.

Meyrin Hawke had first been assigned to his ship after the Requiem War. Since Shinn and Lunamaria did not return to ZAFT, Meyrin did not feel the need to either, but she still wanted to help out. Athrun had appointed her as the permanent CIC controller of the Eternal, because of her computer skills and her abilities to gather information. Martin had first met her at the reception at Athrun and Cagali's wedding, and noticing she was sitting by herself, he had asked to dance with her. Ever since then,Martin had found himself enraptured by her, and every time he would think something of that sort he would punch himself. Not only was she his subordinate, she was 8 years younger then he was, which was a lot in his opinion.

Meyrin looked at him worriedly, "Is something wrong, sir? You look like something is bothering you."

"No, I'm fine." he said, "Th-Thanks for asking..." he laughed nervously.

"Okay..."

Letting out a sigh, now not only was he a disorganized idiot, he sounded like a stuttering freak. He entered the bridge, his love-life problems would have to wait till later.

"Report."

* * *

_Curse you LJ for being so difficult! Okay, I'll shut up now._

_This chapter took a lot more effort then I thought. I'll probably write the next chapter soon because I'm at home for spring break, and I just found out my parents cancelled cabel. No more gundam seed, no more full metal alchemist, no more scryed, and most importantly...no more Boondocks...grr..._

_Check out my homepage link for the character sketches when you get time._

_Thanks, and review if you can!_

_Arigato_

_Lilith_


	2. Chapter 2

_Not quite satisfied with this one. It'll have to do for now._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

Katsuya walked threw the newly established base. He was still wearing his flightsuit, having spent most of his time in his mobile suit for the past 24 hours. The fresh air was refreshing, and he was starting to feel energized again.

"Report, Micka." he walked into the tent to see one of his team mates, Micka Forrester. Vladamir Alexander was out on patrol.

"The area is secure." she said, not looking up from the charts.

"Where's Alex?"

"He's with the search party." she said.

The door burst open, and the tall, wild-haired Coordinator burst into the scene. His black hair spiked in every direction, bound at the base of his neck it desended all the way down to his waist. Despite his name, he had an extremely thickceltic accent.

Micka and Katsuya exchanged a glance. The blonde-hair, female Coordinator looked curiously at Alex, her black eyes narrowed at him.

Alexander opened the cabinate, took out a bottle of vodka, and took a huge drink before replacing it and closing the door.

"You look horrid." Micka frowned.

"Thanks you for your optimistic, uplifting, explination Micka." Alex flopping into a chair, glarring at his team mates.

"What did you find?" Katsuya unbuttoned his collar.

"Absolutly nothing."

"What does that mean?" the blonde-haired girl looked at him.

Alex looked uneasily at them.

"What is your opinion?" Katsuya said, "You have something on your mind."

Alex scratched his head a moment, and then sighed, "There was a professional here."

"A professional?"

"And I'm not talking about some old dude who just has a lot a experience...the stradegies, the escape pattern...it's all perfect to a tee. Whoever was here leading these people was highly intelligent, thinking on their feet, trained in highly advanded combat, and very strong. I suspect they were a sharp shooter as well. While I was inspecting some of the downed mobile suits, they were hit in exactly right place. With a REGULAR rifle fire."

"My god..." Micka stared at him in alarm.

Katsuya looked out the window.

"Who do you think it was?" he said.

"Off the record?" Alex said.

"Of course."

"I think it was a ZAFT solider." he replied, "I'm guessing he's someone from the old order, maybe back at Patrick Zala's time. From the judgement of his position and the shots, he's highly trained in weaponry, emphasis on sharp shooting. He has extensive knowledge of mobile suits."

"In other words?"

Alex frowned, "He's a gundam pilot, a really damn good one."

"Well, whoever they are, they aren't going to give us an easy break." Micka replied, "What should we do for now, Katsuya-kun?"

"Alex?" Katsuya spoke.

"Yeah?"

"Forget about the villagers for now. Concentrate on supplies and holding this area secure. If it's just one person that we need to worry about, we should take the appropriate precautions." he said, running his fingers through his red hair, "Contact Chairman Trent and inform him."

"Aye." he said, "What should we do about the rounin ZAFT solider?"

"Keep watch." Katsuya said, "I trust your judgement, Alex."

"Aye, old friend." the young man left.

"I'm going to take a shower." Katsuya walked past the girl who was still working on the survey charts.

He closed the door to his quarters, and took off his suit. Hanging from his neck was a silver locket. Stopping in front of mirror a moment, he stared transfixed at himself. What would _SHE_ say to him now, seeing him this way? All covered with battle scars and completely different from back then. Part of him still wanted to end his pitiful life that moment, the other part wanted to blow everything around him to hell.

_You're so beautiful, every part of you...Katsuya-kun...I still can't believe that all of you belongs to me..._

His eyes snapped shut, the voices never left his head.

_I love you. I need you. Please, don't run away from me..._

"Shut up." he murmured to himself.

_You're prefect...when we finally have a family of our own, it will all be perfect..._

"STOP!" he shrieked.

His hands lay on his face, and he leaned against the wall of the bathroom.

"Katsuya-kun!" Micka rapped on the door, "Are you alright in there? Katsuya-kun?"

He let out a shaking breath. Deciding not to let her in, despite the fact that he was stripped to his waist, he just did not want to let her in to see him in such a pitiful state.

"I..." he stared at his hands, "I'm alright Micka, I'm sorry I startled you."

"It's alright." she said after a while, "You're overworking yourself, Alex-kun and I are worried about you. It's this place, isn't it?"

Katsuya was quiet, "I'm alright Micka, go back to work."

She sighed exhaustedly, "Okay. Call if you need anything."

After feeling his heart calm again, he undressed and stepped into the shower.

* * *

Suzuka stood on the deck, signing the rest of the reports. 

"Captain."

She turned to see Rey, and smiled, "Rey."

"I'm sorry I am late. Athrun-san wished to have breakfest with Lunamaria, Shinn, and I this morning-"

"That's fine, he sent me a notice." she said, "Well, are you ready to meet the new pilots?"

He nodded.

As they headed down the stairs, he frowned, "Is something wrong?"

"Hm?"

"You've been a little distracted." he said, "Is there something bothering you?"

Looking at her watch, noticing they had an extra 10 minutes, he jumped slightly as she pulled him down the hallway. Seeing the closet, she pulled him inside, and shut the door. Rey turned on the light, giving her a look.

After a few moments of silence, Rey sighed, "Can you please explain why you dragged me into the broom closet?"

"I didn't want anyone to hear. Especially Cedric."

"Why?"

"He doesn't like it when I talk about my past."

"Oh?"

She looked at the floor, "There is a girl that is coming here today, she used to be my best friend."

"Best friend?"

"June-chan." she said, "June Van-hild Romanhein."

"Ah, I remember seeing that name on the new roster." Rey said, "Quite an impressive pilot for a natural."

Suzuka looked up at him, "June is a very old friend of mine, she's very important to me and to my...well, please look out for her, Rey."

"I will." he nodded.

She smiled at him, "You're always so nice to me."

"I owe you a lot." he said.

Rey suddenly grew alarmed as she looked away from him sadly, "So, you only are with me because you feel like you owe me?" Rey was quiet a moment. Suzuka grasped the doorknob, "Well, excuse me Mr. Za Burrel, I am a very busy person-"

He grabbed her and pinned her against the back of the door.

"That's not what I meant to say."

She blushed, "What?"

He leaned foreward and touched his lips to hers, "That is not the reason at all..." he whispered to her as he kissed her cheek, trailing his lips down to her neck, "...the truth is I-"

She kissed him back. His eyes grew wide as she opened his mouth, and he smirked as he returned the kiss. Over the past week that Rey had come to stay in Orb, he and Suzuka had occasionally found themselves sneaking off when no one was looking. He found himself utterly fascinated with her, and she with him. All that they knew, was that they were perfectly happy.

Staring into his eyes, she chuckled,

"You need to watch what you say around girls, Rey." she said, "It may just backfire on you if they aren't in a good mood."

"I'll keep that in mind." he bit at her bottom lip. He was about to kiss her again when her phone rang. Making an irritated noise, she pulled it out.

"Kiriyuhi here."

"Yo." Virgil said, "You're late missy."

"Oh dear." she said, "I'll be right there."

"Right-o. If you see Rey tell him to move his butt."

"Sure thing." she smiled.

"Thanks." he hung up.

She closed the phone and put it in her jacket, "Let's go."

"Suzuka?"

"Yes?"

Quickly stealing a kiss from her before she opened the door, Rey smiled at her,

"I do things for you because I like you."

Staring at him, her cheeks deep red, she replied, "I like you too, Rey."

* * *

The hanger was busy that day. 

Rey walked behind Suzuka, examing the sights around them. He caught sight of Murrue Flaga who was signing papers. She was a woman who demanded organization and creative thinking.Rey would have a hard time on a ship under her command. His eyes glanced at the little boy clinging to her leg. He was about 6 or 7, with blonde hair and golden orange eyes.

"He's not her son." Suzuka whispered to him, "He's probably someone you should go talk to."

"Oh?"

"His name is Koji Shinamura." she said, "He's the son of Talia Gladys."

He gasped.

"Murrue-san made a promise to take care of Gladys' child before the destruction of the Messiah. Because Gladys was declared a Natural sympathizer by Twlight after she died, Koji-chan was sent to live with Murrue and Mwu. His caretakers on PLANT were worried for his safety, so they gave gaurdianship to Murrue."

"How..." Rey stared at the boy, "...how is he doing?"

"How is he doing?" she stared at him in amazement, "He's a child genius. Just like his mother and brother. I can't imagin a better environment for him to grow up in. Everyone knows that the soliders on the Archangel are the elite. Koji-chan also takes lessons from Lacus-san and General Yamato directly. Even Shinn-san and Lunamaria-san babysit him once in a while."

Rey chuckled, "I see."

Up ahead, he watched Suzuka stop and salute to the new recruits. There were about a dozen of them, all young and almost right out of the Eternity academy.

"I am Captain Suzuka Kiriyuhi, and this is the cheif pilot Rey Za Burrel. You will all report to him ASAP. But first I want you all to introduce yourselves." she smiled, "I would like to know who all I working with."

Rey listened, memorizing the names and faces as they all recited their names. There was one particular girl he noticed. She was wearing an Orb-OMNI uniform, which he gathered she was a Natural. She had extremely long, straight, black hair, and glowing blue eyes. Rey frowned, she was quite beautiful and seemed to stick out. When the line reached her, she called her name.

"June Van-hild Romanhein, it's a pleasure, ma'me."

"Thank you for your efforts, and welcome to the Kamaitachi." Suzuka replied, "Please report to Ralph and talk to him about registering and transporting your mobile suits."

"Aye!" they all saluted and ran off, except June, who stared back at Suzuka.

The red-haired captain grinned,

"June-chan!" she smiled, throwing her arms around the girl, "Where's have you been? I've have been worried sick about you! How could you run off like that-"

The girl stared at her, and then she sniffed, tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Suzuka-chan..." she said, burying her face in her friend's shoulder, "...I'm sorry, it's all my fault..."

"What? What's your fault?"

"Katsuya..." she said, "Katsuya is in Twlight..."

* * *

He had a lot of work to do. 

Dearka tried to silence his own breathing as much as normal as he hid in the tree, holding the gun steady threw the leaves. He was covered with dirt and leaves himself to hide better. The gun was focused at the riverbank about 100 meters from where they were hiding. When there were not any soliders coming over the bend, he lowered himself out of the tree.

Walking over to the cliff, he let out a loud sigh, looking down at the temporary camp. After driving for the last 2 days, they had taken a much needed rest to sleep and take care of the wounded. He took this responsibility of seeing these people back to Carpentaria alive.

Then and there, he swore to do it no matter what.

"Watch me, you bastards..."Dearka said, glarring from the direction they had come from, "...you want a war, I'll give you a war..."

* * *

_Yay for another chapter!_

_Review if you can!_

_Arigato _

_Lilith_


	3. Chapter 3

_Yay! I finally got it finished!_

_I got to kick this story in the butt and get it moving._

_Thanks for all the review. I love reading them all. At first I was really unsure what kind of reviews I would get, but I really have fun reading everyone's thoughts. Thanks you again!_

_Okay, back to watching Beck, and downloading world music and Prince of Tennis comics. (yay Fuji Shuusuke)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

Dearka slide down the steep hill into the emcampment. There were a few make-shift tents set up, and people were scurrying around trying to get things done. It had somewhat calmed down, and he was ready to crash himself, but there was still a matter of security. 

After finding someone to take over his job, he gave them the rifle and reported to the main tent. Eli was busy going over plans with the other soliders, that Dearka had drawn up earlier. He lowered himself slowly into the chair as the others were dismissed. Eli made a face at him,

"When was the last time you had a break?"

"Break. That's funny." Dearka chuckled.

"You should go get some rest. I can take care of everything."

Dearka let out a loud sigh, "I still need to go over the topo maps for the area."

"Don't worry about it." Eli patted him on the shoulder, "You earned the rest, kid."

Dearka nodded, he was right.

"Say, Eli-san, is there a radio somewhere around here?"

Eli thought a moment, "There's an old one in one of the jeeps. If you want to try to fix it, your perfectly welcome to."

"Wonderful, thanks."

* * *

Miriallia walked down the dirt road, carrying a cup of coffee in her hands and a blanket. Dearka was still sitting on the floor of the tent, a screwdriver sticking out of the radio he was working on. 

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Sure."

When she walked in, she lay the blanket on his shoulders and handed him a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." Dearka smiled as she sat next to him.

"What are you doing?"

"Yzak still has his mobile suit with him, I should be able to tap into it's frequency with this if the dumb radio works right."

"Good luck with that." she yawned.

"Tired?"

"Not as tired as you are." Mir sighed, "You've been working your ass off."

"ZAFT is on our tail." he said, "We'll have to leave first thing tommorrow. But maybe if I can alert someone to our problems, we won't have to fight as hard. We've got at least a dozen wounded, about ten old people, even more children...and I don't know if we can last the whole way."

"We will." Miriallia laid a hand on his shoulder, "You're here."

Dearka smiled at her.

* * *

Miriallia opened her eyes. 

She was not exactlly sure when she had fallen asleep, but she was laying on the floor of Dearka's tent, with the blanket on her instead. The pieces of the radio were assembled back together. There was no doubt in her mind that he would make it a pet project of his, and that he would work on it through the entire trip.

Rubbing her eyes, she could not help but think to herself.

Dearka was wonderful.

There was something about him that she just could not get out of her mind. He was strong, smart, cunning, and there was still so much about him that she wanted to learn. Back in school, if she had known him then she probably would have felt like a geeky girl having a crush on the high-school sports jock. Dearka was completely out of her league, she thought, and the fact that he stuck with her still amazed her. Comparing him to Tolle, both men were completely opposite.

Miriallia got up, hearing the sounds outside. It was night, and sleeping outside always gave her the creeps. Deciding that she would go find Dearka to see what he was up to and why he was not sleeping like a normal human being, she opened the flap to the tent, and wandered into the forest.

Something told her he was this way. She really could not explain it. There was a strange sound comming from the distance, and she went to see what it was.

Miriallia stopped, ducking behind a row of bushes.

He was in the clearing up ahead, and there was a downed log laying across a ravine that a creek was running through. Moonlight shown through the canopy in the trees, and reflected light off the water. Dearka stood on the log that stretched over the creek, listening to the water run past him. He stood completely still, looking like a complete statue. His shoes were off, and he had rolled up the sleeves on his white shirt as well as the ends of his black pants.

He was holding something in his hands, each of his hands, to be particular. Miriallia watched him, curious at to what he was going to do. It was obvious that he was deep in thought about something.

His arms jerked out, parallel with the ground. He held a fan in each hand, that unfolded with a snap. They were both black with red kanji painted on them.

"Wha-"

She watched as he danced. The graceful movements as his hands slide through the air. It looked like some form of martial art, and it was only after a few more moments of thought did she recongize the tranditional form of japanese dance.

_How the hell does he know something like that?_

His arms flowed through the air like he was in water, turning around briskly he repeated the movements over. Dearka was practicing and from the looks of it, he knew exactly what he was doing.She recognized most of it as acombination of tai chi and japanese dance.

Miriallia watched, completely hypnotized. She could have sat there all night watching him and then died happy.

However, life does not always go as we plan.

It all started with the damn spider.

Dearka jumped, hearing the high pitched streak. A form shot out of the bushes, and slid down the four foot drop right into the creek. He stared in wonder as someone's head came out of the water.

"Miriallia?" he stared at her.

"Dearka!" she gapped at him, "Sorry...didn't mean to scare you. Spider..."

"It's okay." he smiled at her, closing both fans with a swift snap, he slipped them into his belt and plucked her out of the water with his strong arms. Sitting her neatly on the log, he laughed, "So what are you doing out here? Not to jump in the creek, I hope."

_I was spying on you._

"J-Just taking a walk. I was heading in this direction and I s-saw-"

Dearka stopped at moment, _had she seen?_

His cheeks turned bright red. She had never seen them so red before. For a moment, she thought his whole head would bust.

"How...H-How much d-did you-"

Pause.

She nodded shyly.

Dearka made a noise, and then promptly sat cross-legged across from her. She really did not keep track of how long they were sitting on the log.

He never felt so embaressed in his life.

Yzak was the only one that ever knew about his talent for dance, and that was only because he went to the competitions Dearka was in when they were still in middle school. Not Athrun, or Kira, or any other soul knew about it. It was not a very masculine hobby, he thought, and the fact that she knew about it did not help hisself-esteem all that much.

"S-Say, Miriallia-"

"It was the coolest thing I have ever seen."

Dearka stared at her, wide-eyed.

"What?"

"I've never seen anything like it. You're amazing." she said, smiling softly, "From the looks of it, you've been taking it for a while, yes?"

"I guess-"

"Did you do competitions?"

"Yeah-"

"Can you show me again?"

"No."

Miriallia made a face.

"No!" he shouted, "No! It's already embaressing enough! Listen, Mir, you can't tell anyone-"

He fell backward as she threw herself into his arms, pressing her lips to his. His arms slowly slid around her, pulling her tighter in his grip.

"Please?" she whispered.

"...okay..."

Damn him. He was never able to say no to her.

* * *

Rey walked onto the bridge of the Kamaitachi. 

"Yo, Rey." Virgil waved, "Ready for launch?"

"All mobile suits are loaded. We're just waiting for Captain Kiriyuhi." he said, "She's having a talk with one of the pilots."

"Oh?"

Truth be told, Rey was worried.

After Miss Romenhein had approached them, Suzuka had promptly brushed him off and the two girls had disappeared. June was in tears over something, and Suzuka was desperatly trying to calm her. Rey had just met this new pilot, and already his mind was uneasy.

Histhoughtsstrayed a bit.

Suzuka was looking pale lately.

"Hey, earth to Rey!"

"Huh...what?" Rey looked at him.

Virgil made a face at him, "You're spacing out a lot more then normal, dude. Anything bothering you?"

"No." Rey sighed, "Nothing that I have any control over."

"Ah. A certain red-hair captain, no?"

Rey blushed slightly, "Its...more complicated then that."

Virgil nodded, somehow understanding and not pressing the matter.

"So, did HQ send you a machine?"

"Yes." Rey smirked. This was _good_ news.

Sitting the Kamaitachi's hanger was a white-yellow GINN, a commander type. Being in command of his own squad again made him feel at ease. After spending a good number of hours re-configuring the GINN to his own settings, and contemplating his standpoint with Suzuka, he finally reported to the bridge.

The launch was in 20 minutes.

_He stood on the balcony with Athrun, who had remained silent for a quiet a while._

_"I finally know how she felt."_

_"Eh?"_

_"That day...when I left to fight with the Archangel after I recovered from all those wounds. She had to stay behind while I ran off to play space pilot." he said, "It was...insensitive."_

_Rey frowned._

_"I know how it feels. When someone you love is in danger and all you can do is stand and watch." Athrun closed his eyes, "Rey, will you promise me one thing?"_

_"Of course."_

_Athrun leaned on the railing, "Will you bring my wife back to me?"_

_Athrun was young compared to everyone else that worked in the palace. He was the youngest leader in Orb. Even though he was married, a world leader, and a powerful solider he was still young. Someone as young as him and Athrun-san...should never have to experience the things that the both of them had. _

_"Of course, Athrun-san."_

_"If you see her for me, can you tell her something?" Athrun said, "Will you tell her I love her and that I'm sorry?"_

_Rey was silent a moment, turning towards the balcony doors, he stopped._

_"When I am finished with Twilight, you'll be able to tell her yourself."

* * *

_

The door opened, and Suzuka stepped onto the bridge.

"Good afternoon, captain." Virgil raised his hand.

"Hello." she smiled, "How is everything going?"

"Well." Rey said, "We're just waiting for the last supplying to be completed, and a confirmation message from the Archangel."

"Good, good." she said, "Vana?"

"_Yes, sir_?"

"Begin the last checks. We will be the first to launch."

"_Right away_."

"Have everyone report to their stations." she said, sitting in her chair.

Rey stared at her, she was acting like nothing happend. He could tell her eyes were stern and grave.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Za Burrel?" she asked.

Rey frowned, "Nothing, mame."

She smiled sadly, _I'll tell you about it later_...

The door opened and Tess sat merrily into her seat.

"What are you all happy about?" Virgil smirked.

"Oh, nothing." she giggled.

"It's about Ryuo-san, isn't it?" Ezekiel flopped into his chair.

Virgil caulked an eyebrow, hissmirk fadding, "Ryuo?"

"Ryuo Yuji! One of the new pilots!" she squealed, "He's so handsome, and graceful, and articulate,and well-mannered! Oh...and all that silver hair and those grey eyes...I can't wait to go out with him tonight! We'll be in space too. It'll be nice to get back."

"Most definantly, I miss space." Cedric took the operator's seat in front of the bridge.

Ezekiel leaned back in his seat, he had already imput the coordinates into the system. It was a piece of cake for him. There was a blip, Tess poked the screen with her finger.

"Call from the Archangel, captain."

"On screen."

Captain Flaga smiled at Suzuka.

"Long time no see, Suzuka."

"Murrue-san." Suzuka smirked, "You won't be able to beat me this time."

"We'll see about that." the other woman laughed, "It may be an older ship, but it still is more powerful then yours."

"I'll make you eat your words, Murrue-san." Suzuka chuckled.

"Fly safe."

"You as well."

The screen blinked off.

"Launch clamps locked, captain." Ezekiel reported, "Launch sequence in 30 seconds."

"Good." Suzuka said, "Final check."

"Green." Cedric reported.

"All units are reporting clear." Rey smiled at her.

Tess gave them a thumbs up, "All clear here."

There was silence.

"Brooks?" Suzuka looked at up.

"Oh...all clear here." he nodded.

Tess stared at him, a worried look on her face, not hearing what orders Suzuka was shouting.

_Virgil?_

"Okay." Suzuka smiled at them, "Kamaitachi, launch..."

Rey frowned, he had a bad feeling about all of this. Twlight left a bad aura that seemed to leave nothing but suffering and death. He was not quite sure what was going to happen, but there was only one thing that he was sure of.

The mission to rescue Cagali had now begun.

* * *

_I'll bet the scene with Dearka and the japanese dance interested you, yes? I encourage everyone to spend some time on the internet looking up some Dearka bio sites. You'll find that his hobby ACTUALLY is japanese dance. Cute, huh? After I learned this, I had a new respect for Dearka. If you still don't believe me, check it out for yourself. I'm still not even sure if I believe it. _

_Have fun everyone. Next chapter will probably go up after my Samurai 7 update. Maybe at the end of the week. _

_Arigato _

_Lilith_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey all. Here's a new chapter! I hope you like it. Review if you can._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

"Status, Mr. Marks." Suzuka replied.

"Maintaining speed." he said, "I had to make a minor course adjustment to avoid some debris, but we are now on course to the last known coordiantes of the Eternal."

"As the main support ship, we must follow the Archangel. Miss Reiah, if Captain Flaga sends us any information, tell me emediatly."

"Aye, sir."

"Alright." she unbuckled her belt from the chair, floating gently in the zero gravity, "We will begin the nightshift. Anyone who does not need to be here is free to go."

Ezekiel let out a sigh.

"Would you like me to take over for a while?" Rey looked at the younger solider.

The boy smiled, "Sure, Rey-san."

Ezekiel stood up and Rey took the seat for him. It had been a while since he had sat in the helmsman chair, but it was all old knowledge to him. Standing up, Ezekiel scanned the room. Tess was already gone, but Virgil was still there. Bouncing up the deck, he landed next to Virgil,

"Hey Virg, you wanna go get something to eat?"

Virgil shrugged, "Kay."

* * *

They stood in the elevator. Ezekiel caulked and eyebrow at the taller man. There was definantly something wrong with him, something that he could not quite place. He had been on edge ever since Tess left the bridge. 

"Is something wrong?" Ezekiel asked him.

"Nope."

Okay, there was something wrong.

Virgil let out a sigh as they strolled into the mess hall. Their ship still resembled a cargo transport, which meant the mess halls were not as nice as the Nazca Class ships that Virgil had originally been on. It was not that big of a deal.

There was laughing from the corner of the lunchroom.

Ryuo Yuji.

From what Virgil could gather, Yuji was highly intelligent, skilled, and sociable. Sitting at the table with his dinner, Virgil watched the other man as he ate with Ezekiel, who was praddling on about his conversation with Vana the day before.

The way Yuji carried himself, he probably was very athletic. In which sports, Virgil could not directly tell, but probably baseketball, tennis, or some sort of endurance sport. As the door to the hall opened, Tess walked in. Virgil watched as she caught him looking at her.

She glared at him.

What the hell was her problem now?

The first time he had met Tesslia Reiah was when they were first assigned to the Kamaitachi. They were both younger back then, and his gangster streak was fadding, but still there. He remembered walking through the shipyard and seeing a could of gaurds picking on her. Already in a bad mood from getting ragged on by a superior officer for being late, he proceded to punch their lights out.

_Tess stared at him, her eyes wide. _

_"Take that you sick bastards!" he bellowed at them, "What kind of a man forces himself on a woman?"_

_He had done many things, but mis-treating women was not on his rapt sheet. _

_"Excuse me?"_

_He looked at her, his eyes grew wide. She was gorgeous. Virgil had seen a lot of woman in his time, but she seemed different. _

_"I'm Leutinant Tesslia Reiah." she shook his hand, "You can call me Tess."_

_It was then that he fell in love with her._

If he wanted too, he could get up that moment and drag her out of the mess hall kicking and screaming. He would pull her into his room, tell her how he felt, and then-

"Virg?"

"Huh?" Virgil blinked, snapping back to his regular, non-chalant personality.

"Are you sure nothing is wrong?"

He watched Tess walk over to Yuji. The man instantly stood up and kissed her hand. She giggled, turning bright red before sitting down with him and his fellow sqaud members. Ryuo Yuji was proper, graceful, polite, and personable.

He was the exact opposite of Virgil Brooks.

Ryuo Yuji would be good for her. He was a better man then Virgil thought he would ever be.

"Nah, nothings wrong." Virgil then smirked, "So, when are you going to tell Vana you love her?"

All that was in his mind now, was that his ears hurt from Ezekiel yelling at him so much. After all, as Ezekiel put it, the 'ship had ears'.

_Yes, Tess was better off without him._

But now he had to convince himself of that.

* * *

Meyrin walked down the hallway of the Eternal. They would be going to battle soon. 

It had been a long time since she had really seen in battle. She was used to this ship now, and it seemed almost like a second home to her. Of course, Lunamaria had questioned her wanting to stay in the military, but it seemed, that after everything she went through with Athrun-san it was hard to sit still.

She watched from her position as Captain DaCoasta went over a few reports from his chair. He was very young for a captain. Not the young captain in history, but for being the military for such a long time it still seemed odd. Apart from Captain Yzak Jule, there were not a lot of young captains left these days. Orb had started employing some teenagers in key positions, but Twilight had prevented anyone under the age of 30 to become a captain now.

If they were in Twilight, Martin DaCoasta would not be captain right now, and most likely she would be dead. Meyrin Hawke probably would have been executed for her defection to Orb.

She shivered, the whole idea generally gave her the creeps, and she wanted everyone to just get along and respect each other's personal space. Then there would never be any wars like the ones they are facing right now.

He spotted her staring at him, and he smiled.

Captain DaCoasta was always a little upbeat to make up for the fact that everyone else was always acting depressed every time a battle loomed over them. Sometimes the fact that he was usually trying to be optimistic, at least on the bridge anyway, helped everyone else try to look on the bright side of things.

Handing the signed reports to the officer, he sighed,

"Miss Hawke, would you like to go for that dinner now?"

"Sure." she said.

Except for the captain, people did not really use ranks around the Eternal. Maybe if someone was being insubordinate, but no one ever was. Lacus had hand-picked the crew herself, and everyone was mild and calm.

"How is your sister and Shinn-san?"

"They are doing well." Meyrin smiled at him, "Shinn works at an auto repair shop."

"Oh?"

"He was getting too restless. Because their house is sometimes used by a safehouse for Orb, they get all of their expenses paid. But Shinn is not the type to sit around, so he got a job to keep himself occupied."

"Sounds like fun." Martin folded his arms behind his head, "I miss my car."

"Athrun-san would probably give you time off if you asked for it."

"Probably. But I would feel guilty leaving while everyone else was marooned here."

"I see."

He smiled at her.

"You don't take days off either."

Meyrin shrugged, "I like to work. It's hard for me to sit still."

Martin nodded his head in agreement, "It seems we have a lot in common." He stopped in front of the mess hall door, shifting his weight on his feet. "Say, when we get to earth..."

"Yes?" she looked at him.

"Um..."

They were standing outside the mess hall. Martin figeted slightly under her curious gaze.

"Is something wrong, sir?" she asked, suddenly worried.

"Ah..no! I'm just fine!" he said a little too loudly, "I was just wondering if you would like to hang out...or something."

"Sure." she smiled brightly at him.

"It's probably a drag staying with only your sister all the time." he said, "We can...go take a tour of Orb."

"Sounds fun." she nodded, "I'll look foreward to it."

The door opened and Meyrin headed into the mess hall. Martin followed her inside, sure that at that moment, he was grinning like a complete idiot.

* * *

Cagali had entertained herself most of that day by staring blankly out of the window. Doctor Hersh walked over to her cell, and stared at her. She hated it when he did that because it made her feel like she was in a peep show. 

"You're very deep in thought, hime."

"I suppose." she said, "Not a whole lot to do in this damn cell other than to sleep and wait for another one of our 'talks',"

"What are you thinking about?"

Cagali caulked her head to the side, letting out a small sigh.

"I'm hoping that Mana has been feeding the goldfish in my bedroom, that Kisaka has the roof on the west wing repaired by now, that Athrun has been getting enough sleep, and that the Emirs aren't talking advantage of him. He's too kind sometimes, I'm well aware that I am more aggressive then he is...maybe we'll have some kids after I get out of this hole. I'm not getting any younger."

"You're quite optimistic about that, hime. Is there something your not telling us?"

There was silence.

"Sometimes, Mr. Hersh, this cell is more painful then anything you or your damn Chairman could ever do to me."

Doctor Hersh laughed, "Spoken like a true leader."

"Thank you. Now, can you leave me alone. I would like to return to my thoughts."

Doctor Hersh stared at her a few moments, "You're going to be executed in a week. Chairman Trent has ordered me to tell you that if you try to escape, he will order the destruction of Orb."

Cagali smiled.

It was the first time he had ever really seen the young woman smile while in captivity, other then when she saw Athrun Zala on the television.

Doctor Hersh headed out of the brig. Cagali pulled her legs up to her chest. She had to get out of here. Many times, she had gone over ways to escape in her head, many times she had thought about escaping, but if she left what would happen to Orb?

What would happen to Athrun?

She stared at her left hand, and a memory began to float back into her mind. It was something that puzzled her, and she still did not understand it.

* * *

_She rolled over on her side, too see the three figures standing outside of her cell. Cagali frowned, and rubbed her eyes._

_A pair of emerald green eyes stared at her. _

_"Whatever the hell it is, it better be fast."_

_"Your bravery astounds me, hime-sama." the red-haired elite walked into the moonlight that shown through the window, "I know that I would have notlasted this long if I had been in your position."_

_"I have higher goals in mind then to rot in this cell forever." she said._

_He was quiet a moment._

_"My name is Katsuya Kiriyuhi, and I am here to help you."_

_Cagali was sure that she laughed out loud as she sat up, leaning against the wall. The other two elites stood behind him._

_"I assure you, I am telling the truth." Katsuya looked at her, "The security cameras have be deactivated for 5 minutes, so I must be brief."_

_Cagali stared at him a moment. _

_"Go on." she said._

_"In a few days, I am being shipped to earth with the rest of my team, we will be conducting the pre-invasion of Orb." he said, "However, I have no intention of following Chairman Trent for the rest of my life."_

_"Oh?"_

_"Let's just say...I have a debt that needs to be repaid." Katsuya closed his eyes a moment, "And I will help you, if you help me."_

_Cagali folded her arms, "I knew there was a price. Tell me."_

_"There is someone in Orb that I need to find. Someone important."_

_Cagali stared at him a moment, "This is a lot of trouble to go through."_

_Katsuya glarred at the blond princess a moment, "There is a woman that lives in Orb that I have a duty to find. Now, if you promise to help me, I will help you."_

_"I have a few conditions of my own. If you don't agree, then no deal."_

_"Fine."_

_"When the time comes, you and your squad must defend Orb." she said, "And you will make sure that Athrun is not harmed."_

_"Deal." he said, "I knew you would understand, hime-sama."_

_Cagali nodded, standing up, she limped towards the bars. She slipped off her wedding and engagement rings. _

_"Before the final attack, you must sneak into the palace and tell Athrun." she said, "Give these to him. He will know what to do. If you don't inform him, you will be treated as an enemy, and he will probably kill you on the spot. Take good care of these, I expect them back."_

_He took the rings, "What makes you think you can trust me?"_

_Cagali smirked at him, "Your eyes."_

_"Eyes?"_

_"You have a terrifying aura about you. I have no doubt that you more then enough deserve that uniform. But your eyes are very honest."_

_Katsuya then smirked back at her._

_"So are yours, hime-sama." _

Cagali sat in the cell and smirked.

_Chairman Trent...I swear that when all of this is over, I will kill you myself.

* * *

_

Katsuya was buttoning up his uniform. Staring at the black bag in the corner of his room; he would going alone to Orb tommorrow. He needed Alex to stay and watch the troops, and Micka needed to be there to mandate Alex.

He reached into his pocket, and in his hand were two silver rings.

They were expensive, probably cost a small fortune. Whoever Athrun Zala really was, Katsuya was familiar with Zala's past but had never met him, he must have really cared for the princess.

But there was something else that was worrying him now.

He was well aware that June was in Orb army. There was a high possiblity that she might be fighting now. What if they ended up fighting each other?

Katsuya let out a loud sigh as the door knocked.

"Enter."

Alex peered in.

"You're taking your sweet-old time." he said, "Move your ass."

"I'm comming." Katsuya smirked at him, "You're too anxious."

"Is it so wrong that I like to fight in battles?" Alex folded his arms, "I happend to really want to make a name for myself. If that's so bad, then you're a damn facist."

Katsuya chuckled at that comment.

"Kat." Alex said, "Are you sure about this? If we go against Twlight, there will be nowhere for us to hide."

Katsuya lead him out of the room, and closed the door.

"I'm sure."

He had never been so sure in his life.

* * *

_Thanks for being patient. I was planning to update earlier, but it just didn't happen. Oh well._

_Next chapter on friday. I have a whole week to write it._

_Arigato _

_Lilith_


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the lack of updates. I'm starting to kick myself in the butt so I can get things done faster. Thanks for being patient.

I was just curious, if anyone has freetime on their hands, if there was anyone available to proofread my chapters. There is an increasing number of reviews from all my stories talking about spelling and grammer. Aside from the fact that I'm starting to get irritated at myself, I understand how frustrating it is to read a story that is not edited well enough.

If anyone is interested, e-mail me or send me a personal message. Do not tell me over the reviews.

Thanks for all your help.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny

* * *

Athrun stood up from his desk, leaving the rest of the paperwork for tommorrow. It was already late, and he was exhausted. Tommorrow would be another day filled with meetings and more work. Sleep, he had learned, was more valuable then he gave it credit.

_Walking down the hallway, he yawned. _

_As he was about to grab the doorknob to his room, he stopped. Blinking his eyes a few times, he slowly opened the door and closed it behind him._

_"I can hear you." he murmured._

_He turned around as the red-haired solider jumped down from the ceiling. Athrun stepped backwards, grabbing the man's arm, he flipped him over his shoulder. He gritted his teeth as his attacker corrected himself, and raced towards him. _

_His attacker was from Twlight._

_Athrun stood still as the solider raced towards him, then simply stuck out his arm and grabbed the other man's neck. Slamming him into the ground, planting his foot on top of the man's chest. After completely pinning his enemy to the floor, he reached behind his jacket and pulled out a gun, pointing it right between the man's eyes. _

_"You have five seconds to state your buisness before I kill you." Athrun whispered, speaking softly so no one in the hallway would hear and be suspicious. It was interesting that someone was able to break the security. Whoever had attacked him was not an amature. The man in black reached a shaking hand into his pocket and pulled something out, handing it to Athrun. Athrun took it, and his eyes grew wide as he stared at the shining objects. _

_"Wha-"_

_"She knows you well. She told me that if I didn't show these to you, that you would kill me." he said, "I neverthought that you to be this much stronger then me."_

_Athrun stood up, looking at the wedding rings in his hand. It was the same two rings that he had given Cagali. _

_"I am Katsuya Kiriyuhi."_

_"Kiriyuhi..." Athrun frowned._

_"I have come on behalf of the princess...or rather..." he said, "I have come on behalf of your wife, Athrun-sama."_

_Athrun could not take his mind off the two rings. After a few moments, he looked at Katsuya. _

_"Go on..."

* * *

_

Athrun sat up in bed.

The two necklaces hung from his neck. One was the Haumea necklace that Cagali gave him. The other were the dogtags from ZAFT. Hanging on his dogtag collar were both of Cagali's rings. Looking around the room, he frowned.

After last night's jaunt with the Twlight-ZAFT solider, he had contacted Kira right away. By now, the crew of the Archangel were probably updating their plans and making up stradegies. During all of this Athrun was sitting in bed, at the palace. He was so restless that he was going insane.

_They only had a week. _

Cleaning himself up, he went to the dining hall for breakfest. Kisaka sat at the table with the reports, eating his own breakfest. He was Athrun's unoffical-offical advisor. Cagali trusted him, and because of that, Kisaka was the only one that Athrun really trusted other then Mana.

"Are you well, sir? You look tired."

"I did not sleep well." Athrun sighed, taking a bite of toast, his face leaning in one of his hands. Thinking about all the meetings he had to go to today. Suddenly, the thought of going to the gym for a workout seemed like a good idea. Athrun felt like he had a lot of pent-up energy.

Kisaka smirked at him,

"You want to fight, don't you?"

Athrun was silent a moment.

"I'm a solider, Kisaka-san." Athrun leaned back. He was not acting like his regular wise-mature self that morning. "I'm frustrated."

"We all are."

"I wanted to go."

"So did I, sir."

"What is the status of the Kusanagi?"

Kisaka chuckled, "I thought you would never ask, sir."

"What about Orb? What about-"

"The country can run itself for a short while." Kisaka nodded, "The Kusanagi is prepped for launch and your Inifinite Justice can be loaded within the hour."

Athrun smiled to himself, "Alert Shinn and the others. I'll have a talk with Yzak. Keep this to yourself, Kisaka. I don't want too many people to know that I am gone from Orb."

"Aye, sir."

He was going to save her, and he was going to do it on his own power.

* * *

Yzak sat in the control room, shouting orders to the teams below the control tower. They were conducting tests of all the mobile suits that were recently repaired on the Voltaire. Shiho's DEEP Arms was fighting all the rest of the suits in a mock-battle. Honestly, he had to admit that she was a wonderful pilot. 

"Okay, that's enough for today. Take a break people."

"Aye sir!" voices sounded over the com.

He leaned back in the chair, letting out a shallow sigh.

"Sir?" Abby looked at him.

"I'm fine." he stood up, "Please excuse me."

He walked down the hallway, turning a left at the end of the hallway. Even though his wounds were healed, the doctor had told him to take it easy. His body overall was exhausted and strained from doing so much work while he was injured, and he was under strict orders not to overdo it.

Yzak found himself standing in front of the girl's locker room. There would only be one person in it at the moment. Opening the door, Shiho gasped,

"Yzak, you can't come in he-"

He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the lockers, brushing his lips over hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into the kiss.

"You were amazing." he said.

"Thanks..." she murmured.

"Want to come over to my place tonight?"

"Sure." she nodded, "Aren't you worried someone might see us?"

"Let's them see." he said, "I don't care."

Kissing her once more, he let go of her, and sat on the bench as she finished getting dressed. By this time, she did not care if he was watching.

"So how many more drills do we have?"

"Five." he sighed, "It seems that we are all caught up, though. The Voltaire is almost completely repaired as well."

"It's about time." she said, "We can pay Twlight back for it's wonderful hospitality."

"I'm sorry that you have to do all this extra work. If I wasn't under strict orders, I would run the fight trails myself." Yzak sighed.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. It's good exercise."

"There's still a matter of finding Dearka." he said, "Athrun says that he's alive."

"Elthman hasn't contacted us yet."

"That means he's either dead or he just can't contact us now. It's hard to tell." Yzak leaned back on the lockers, "I'll have to hold off on that issue for now. There's not a lot we can do other then to issue a search."

"He's resourceful." Shiho said, "He told me that he had the highest score in survival training back at the Academy."

"Phfft." Yzak folded his arms behind his head, "Only because I had a test the day before and didn't sleep."

"Excuses." she smirked and shook her head.

"It's true!"

Shiho laughed at him, finishing the buttons on her uniform.

* * *

They had traveled 30 miles that day, and then had to stop becauase there were too many enemy forces in the area. 

Dearka had them setting up camp, and by nightfall, everyone was inside. He did not want to run the risk of anyone getting harmed. Glancing at his watch, he had been up 30 hours straight now. Even though he was running mostly on the really strong coffee that Eli always made, Dearka was starting to get exhausted.

At this rate, he would keel over before they even made it halfway to Carpentaria.

After traveling for 3 days now, they would loose a lot of time that day for stopping so early. They already had to travel slow because of all the injured they had. Looking at the topography maps in his hand, they had been able to stay mostly hidden from sight. The sky was full of Twlight units, and Dearka was not willing to take any risks.

His head was dizzy.

He swayed slightly, and leaned against a tree. This was not a good time for his body to punk out on him.

"Elthman?"

Dearka instantly perked up, seeing Ellanor walking towards him.

"You're looking a little pale, you alright?"

He chuckled slightly, "I'm fine."

"You sure? With those bloodshot eyes, and Eli told me with all the hours your pulling-"

"I'm alright." he nodded, "I'm sorry to worry you, Ellanor-san."

"Hell, I'm not the one you should apologize too. Apologize to Miriallia. She's worried sick over you."

Dearka sighed, he was being careless.

"I'll go talk to her now. I'm on a break anyway."

"Good, and get some food and sleep while you're at it." she frowned, "Don't roll your eyes at me, young man."

He could not help but laugh as he walked off. Waving at some people as he headed towards Miriallia's tent.

Everyone in the camp knew him now, and he was quite popular. The people looked up to him for guidence and re-assurence. Sometimes Dearka did not mind it, and sometimes he was tired and just wanted to take a long shower and sleep. He was starting to somewhat understand how Yzak felt as a supreme council member and a military captain.

"Miriallia?" he called through the tent wall.

"Dearka? Come in."

He walked into the large tent. It was even large enough for him to stand in. Mostly because it was a tent she carried with her for work, and was large enough to keep all her equipment in. It had a sort of fake-wood floor that was transportable, so the tent was more like a collaspable cabin then a tent.

She was sitting in a chair in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. It looked like she had just taken a shower, and her hair was still straight. Dearka smiled at her,

"You're up late." he said.

"You're one to talk!" she pointed, "Eli-san tells me you haven't been eating or sleeping."

"Heh, sorry about that." he said, "I've just been too busy..."

"That's no excuse." she frowned, "You're just being hard on yourself."

"It's not easy, you know, to lead a whole village of people through the forrest without getting caught by Twlight." he said. His head was starting to get dizzy again.

"Well, if you let people _HELP YOU_ more often, you wouldn't be so busy. You take on too many responsibilities."

"But I want...things done a certain way. It's...it's be...better if..."

"Dearka?"

She gasped as he swayed sinking to his knees. Miriallia fell to the floor, catching him in her arms. He lay there a moment, his eyes closed.

"Dearka?" she called, "Are you alright?"

He moaned, resting his head on her shoulder. She began to panic as he grew heavy in her arms.

"Wait here, I'll go get Ellanor-"

She yelped as he pulled her down onto the floor with him, wrapping his arms around her.

"Hm..." he mumbled, "...stay here..."

"Dearka." she frowned, laying her soft hands on his face, "You're working so hard to help us. Why don't you let someone help you for a change?"

His eyes opened slowly. Miriallia sat up, pulling him to his feet, she dumped him on her bed.

"What are you doing?" he murmured, half asleep already.

"You're going to lie here and your going to sleep."

"...don't wanna..."

"Shut it, Elthman." she pulled his shoes off, tossing them in the corner with her own, and then unbuttoned his shirt, making a face, "I'll have Eli-san bring you some clean clothes."

He let out a sigh as his head hit the pillow.

"But...what about the enemy units? I need to-"

"You need to sleep." she said, "No buts."

Dearka finally nodded, and his eyes slid closed again. Miriallia smiled at him, and as she was about to leave he pulled her down next to him, shutting off the lights.

"What-"

"I didn't say you could leave yet." he muttered.

"Dearka-"

He was fast asleep. It sometimes amazed her how quickly he could fall asleep if he needed to. His arms were wrapped gently around her, but tight enough where she could not get up.

But she really did not have the heart to disturb him. Right as she started to nod off herself, she could here him murmuring in his sleep.

"...Mir..."

She listened, waiting to see what he would say.

"...don't leave me..."

To her shock, a tear slid down his cheek. Miriallia wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer to her. But it was the next set of words that alarmed her.

"...I love you..."

* * *

_I made it through another chapter. Yay!_

_I hope you enjoyed it. Please send me a review and tell me what you think._

_Arigato_

_Lilith_


	6. Chapter 6

_Okay, so I already tried posting this once and the school server DIED. Grr._

_Right now I am listening to Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. I encourage everyone to look it up. It's a big coral-orchestral piece. O Fortuna is the best song ever. _

_I was listening to Seki Tomokazu earlier. He's the voice actor for Yzak Jule, Domon Kasshu, Van Fanel, Kamui Shirou, Shuichi Shindou, Dee Laytner, Touya Kinomoto, Sousuke Sagara, Chichiri, and for a lot of other well known anime characters. (He's also my favorite japanese seiyuu. OO...he does a lot of shounen ai bishies...)_

_Anyway, enough chatting. Here's the chapter. Sorry for the long wait._

_Thank you to psychoanalyst for editing the fic. Woo7!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny._

* * *

It was late at night, and Virgil did not feel like sleeping. 

After a few more moments of lying awake and staring at the ceiling, he sat up abruptly. He undressed, threw on his training clothes, and headed out for the the gym.

Walking down the hallway, he could tell that most of the crew was sleeping. Even though this was the case, there were still many sounds that echoed through the steel hallways. He could hear Vana and Ezekiel chatting in the Main Operations room, the young teenager was sitting on the floor with a ruler and a pile of charts, mapping out the route of the Eternal. Cedric was sitting in his own quarters reading a novel and listening to classical music, Tess was-

He frowned, and stopped in front of her room.

His Coordinator ears could pick up what she was doing. Tess had taken to sitting on the floor, sewing up holes in a few pairs of socks, humming softly to the music that played next to her.

Virgil walked on towards the gym.

When he entered, he found himself suddenly irritated.

"Well, well, I didn't expect you to be up, Lieutenant Brooks."

Ryuo Yuji stood in the middle of the room, holding the practice staff in his hands. It was obvious that he had been practicing katas.

"Likewise." Virgil bowed slightly, "Sorry to disturb you, sir."

"Nonsense." the elite pilot shrugged, "I just felt like releasing a little pent-up energy. I heard that you are well adversed in the martial arts, Mr. Brooks."

"Yes, sir."

"How about a little match? One on one?"

Virgil came really close to saying no. He had learned early in his military life that defeating a superior officer in sparring was sometimes more trouble then it was worth. But after seeing the records, Yuji was a top competitor in martial arts tournaments in Orb. Even though Virgil himself was quite good at defense, he never felt the need to be in a formal competition. Everything he knew was mostly self-taught, except for the Jujitsu and Tai Chi that he had learned in the academy.

"I don't think that's a good idea, sir." Virgil smiled nervously, "I'm not that good."

"It's okay, I won't beat you too badly." Yuji chuckled, "Come on, I insist. I need exercise after sitting in that base at Orb for so long."

Virgil sighed, this would not end well.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Rey sat in the helmsman chair. He was alone on the bridge. 

Silence helped him recharge. It was the only time that his brain would unwind, and he would be able to avoid stress. This was short-lived, however, as he heard the elevator lift door open. He turned around to see who it was.

"Ah." the girl smiled, "Suzuka-chan told me to bring this for you."

It was the girl that Suzuka was aquainted with. She floated over to him, handing him the tea, and then sitting on the railing next to the console.

"Thank you, Miss Romenhein." he said.

"Please, call me June." she said, "Any friend of Suzuka-chan is a friend of mine."

Rey chuckled, taking a sip of tea. June smirked at him,

"So, have you kissed her yet?"

He promptly snorted in the tea he had been drinking. June laughed, brushing her long hair out of her face. She leaned towards him,

"I wouldn't be worried about anything, Rey-san. Suzuka really likes you."

He blushed, staring at her wide-eyed, "Eh?"

At this point, he was wondering what it was that she and Suzuka were always talking about. He would usually see them chatting in the mess hall, or walking down the cooridors talking quietly to each other.

"It's okay though."She continued talking, ignoring the flabberghasted look on his face, "I think you're a decent guy, Rey-san."

Rey could not help but smile slightly, "It seems that both you and Suzuka-san are conspiring against me."

"I suppose," she shrugged, "She just seems happier then usual. I'm proud of her, she deserves to be happy."

Rey detected a sense of saddness in the girl's voice. After a few moments of silence, June smiled, looking at the floor.

"Take care of her, Rey-san. She's had a hard life."

"What do you mean?"

June frowned, leaning her cheek on her left hand.

"Her family." she replied, "Sometimes, I think that after everything that has happened, it's probably Suzuka-chan that suffered the most out of everything...being left alone for so long...I'm surprised that she's alright."

"What?" Rey was staring at her now, a concerned look on his face.

"It's a long story." June sighed, "One that is best told another ti-"

The door whisked open, and Ezekiel leaned in.

"Hey, Rey-san!" he called, "Virgil and Yuji are fighting each other in the gym! I think it's getting a little out of hand!"

Rey made a face, he was not in the mood to break up fights. June seemed to be thinking the same thing he was.

"Oh Ryou..." she sighed, shaking her head, "...must you always be so hot headed?"

* * *

There was already a crowd of people in the hallway and in the gym watching. Rey was surprised to see so many people out. Looking in the room, his mouth fell open. 

Both officers were in full offensive mode. Sinking quickly to the floor to avoid being hit by Virgil's staff, Yuji prepared to hit the larger officer point-blank in the chest. Virgil dodged it, planting the end of his staff in the floor, he rolled over Yuji's back and landed gracefully on his feet.

"You're too good to be a lieutenant." Yuji glared at him, "Who the hell are you?"

Virgil turned around, and Rey frowned as his glance fell on his commrade's eyes. Virgil's eyes had turned a solid brown. He twirled the staff in his hands, stopping it abruptly, and slamming the end into the floor with a thunk. His black hair was wild and messy about his face, and he stared at him with an emotionless, nonchalant expression.

"Are you still going easy on me?" Virgil glared a moment, "You think just because I'm only an officer, that makes me less of a solider? Just because I'm not some damn elite?"

"You-"

"I would rather be shot then stoop to being some military dog." he said, "You saw my records, yes? You should know...that only three people in the entire Orb military have defeated me. I'm sorry...but you don't measure up to any of them."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm afraid..." Virgil raced towards him, "...I can't be defeated by you-"

"VIRGIL BROOKS!"

He froze, just as the staff was about to hit his opponent. The voice still boomed throughout the gym as Tess walked it, still dressed in her robe and nightclothes. Vigril stepped back as she walked up to him, staring at his eyes.

"It's been a while, Hayate." she replied, "I thought you said you were never going to fight people like this anymore."

Virgil stepped back from her, "I..."

"Forget it." she shook her head, "For you to pick on someone like this...you should be ashamed of yourself."

"But-"

Tess glarred at him, and then walked past him towards the fallen solider on the floor.

"I'm sorry." she apologized, "Lieutenant Brooks has somewhat a violent personality occasionally. Sometimes, he can't control himself."

Virgil stared at the wall in shock. _What..._

Rey glanced between Tess and Virgil, then at Ryuo. Tess helped Yuji to his feet, letting out a sigh as she noticed the bruises on his face. She frowned,

"Oh my, we should get you looked at." Tess, then looked at Virgil, whose back was turned to her, "Come on, you need medical attention too."

There was silence in the room. Rey could feel the tension rise for a moment, and he could swear that Virgil's hair began to levitate slightly. The taller man's hand tightened around the staff, and he said through gritted teeth,

"Is that all?"

"Hm?" Tess looked at him curiously.

"Is that all you have to say to me?" he replied, "Lieutenant Reiah?"

She frowned at him, he almost always called her by her name. It was the first time in a while that he had addressed her by formal title.

"Virgil-"

"I think I can take care of myself, thank you." he snapped coldly at her, "I don't need your sympathy."

"I wasn't giving you sympathy, I was simply saying-"

"Lieutenant." Yuji glarred at him, "You shouldn't speak to a lady like that."

Everyone jumped as the staff sailed out of his hands, across the room, and stuck fast into the wall with a crash. He clenched his fists and then turned towards the exit. Rey watched as Virgil walked past, a furious aura seemed to radiate off the Lieutenant. Just before he left, Virgil stopped,

"I apologize." he said, "Please, take Yuji-san to the infirmary. I'm turning in for the night."

"Virgil! Wait!" Tess called as he left the gym, "Tell me what's wrong!"

Rey sighed as she ran past him,

"Okay, shows over." the blonde pilot said, "Everyone, back to your rooms! Yuji, please report to the infirmary."

Rey stood in the doorway as everyone evacuated the gym. Ezekiel sighed,

"He really must be stressed. To turn into Hayate like that."

"Hayate?" Rey replied.

"His other ego." Ezekiel said, "He gets really cold and violent. It was actually through special training from Kira-san that he learned how to control it. Something must really be bothering him if he's this stressed out."

"_Rey-san!_" Vana's voice came over the com, "_Please report to Captain Kiriyuhi's office_."

"Ah." Rey said, "Please take care of this, Ezekiel. We are running a ship here, not a fight club."

"Aye, Rey-san."

* * *

"Virgil!" Tess ran to catch up with him, she reached out to grab his arm, but he yanked it away from her. 

"Tess, don't touch me." he told her. His voice was quiet and monotone, and his response only served to anger her further.

"What is wrong with you?" she yelled, "You're always acting like this! Why don't you stop being so childish?"

"Can you leave me alone for awhile?" he said, "I need to rest-"

"No! I'm not going to leave until you tell me what's wrong!" she roared.

Tess gasped as his eyes snapped open and he grabbed both her arms, pinning her against the wall of the deck.

As the ship drifted through space, the moonlight cast rays through the windows of the observation deck were they stood. She watched, a look of shock on her face, as the moonlight spilled through the room, and over his face. He looked like a different person with the look he had in his eyes.

"Virgil?" she whispered, not trusting herself to speak.

He was strong. Tess and had never known that he was this strong. She could not move an inch under his grip, or the gaze that he was giving her.

"Who do you think you are?" he murmured at her.

"Wha-"

"You think you can just pluck me out of the crowd and tame me?" he said, "You think that I can ever be a different person that who I was when we first met?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I will not change into a person that I am not just to get you to notice me!"

She gasped, her eyes staring at him in horror. He hung his head, looking at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Tesslia." he said, "Ryuo Yuji is a better person then I am. I guess...I guess I let my mind get out of control again. I should have declined his offer to a fight. It was my fault, and I overdid it again."

"Virgil..."

"I guess...I was just furstrated and angry." he said, "Two emotions that I've always tried to avoid because they bring out the worst in me. I came to the military to try and control them, and all that it has done is add gasoline to the fire in my mind."

She stared at him, forgetting that he was still holding onto her arms.

"Is that what you really want?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Do you really want me to just get up and walk away from you?"

"It would be the for the best."

She shook her head, "That isn't what I asked. Is it what you want?"

"What I want doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does."

"No."

"It matters to me-"

"DAMMIT!" he roared, taking her by surprise, "Do you think I want you to leave me? I'm in love with you!"

Suddenly realizing what he said, he let go of her and floated backwards, his back hitting the other side of the room. Tess stood there, frozen where she stood.

"Shit." he murmured, running his hand through his hair. Looking up, his eyes gew wide as she floated towards him, "Tess-"

All that he remembered seeing was her smooth hands running over his face. She brushed her lips over his, smiling back at his shocked and confused face.

"Tess..."

She kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. His eyes slid closed, pulling her closer to him. He jumped as he heard voices down the hallway. She heard him utter another curse and grab her hand, pulling her down the hall.

"Where are we going?"

"We can't stay there."

He punched the code in for his quarters, and pulled her in as the door closed. She found herself pressed against the door as he kissed her back. He tilted her head back, trailing his lips down her neck as he pulled the sash on her robe off.

Tess glanced over at the clock on the stand and chuckled.

"What?" he smirked, looking at her.

"We have 6 hours till our shift starts." she told him.

"Oh?"

She pulled his shirt over his head, "I guess that means we've got time."

It was his turn to laugh, "I guess..."

* * *

Rey sat at the desk with Suzuka, staring at Kira from the computer screen. 

"So let me get this right..." Suzuka frowned, "...are you sure this is a good idea?"

"It's the only way." Kira replied, "It's dangerous. Normally, I would do something like this myself, but I can't leave the Archangel at this point. Shinn-san is not here and neither is Athrun, so you two are the next best candidates."

Rey sighed uneasily.

"It's your choice." Kira said, "This mission has a low survival rate. Twlight is still after both of you, and it's very dangerous."

"Infiltrate the base." Rey repeated, "Pose as a Twilight solider, break into the facilty, and then rescue the princess while sabotaging the base?"

"That's basically the whole thing." Kira shrugged, "A rather blunt way of putting it, though."

"We'll do it, Kira-sama." Suzuka replied.

"Eh?" Kira seemed slightly surprised, "Rey-san?"

She glanced at Rey, who suddenly looked a little paler then usual. The whole idea of dawning the red elite uniform once againand return to an organization that had basically tried to turn him into a fighting, mindless, mercenary did not sit well with him. But in truth, there really was not anyone else to do this job. Suzuka was well adversed with the security codes, and Rey would be able to infiltrate the base easily with his skills.

"Ah." Rey nodded, "We will do it."

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

Tommorrow he would have to face his past.

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

_The next update will hopefully be soon. I've been quite busy, so I don't want to set a date because I know I'll miss it._

_Finals weekis comming up, and everyone who is in college knows what I mean. Ganbatte!_

_Arigato_

_Lilith_


	7. Chapter 7

_Right now it is 10:50pm and I have been listening only to this song from DN Angel since 9am this morning. Okiayu Ryuutarou (does the OP and CO for Scryed) has a WONDERFUL voice, and if you haven't listened to "Kodou Whenever" then either you haven't experienced the goodness of DN Angel or you really missing out. (Krad gives me the heebie jeebies)_

_Anyway, I originally planned to post this last week, but with concerts, finals, and other crap going on I feel like I'm going to keel over, and to top it all off my favorite fic was updated last week...but worry not! I will be doing a large update at the end of the week if I can muster it. Including a variation of Chapter 10 from Eternity Rising I (a DearkaxYzak interlude), because I am a hopeless fangirl and I can't help myself. Also because You Tube is down for the moment and can't finish watching DN Angel...ah, the truth comes out..._

_Enjoyed the chapter. A BIG thank you to psychoanalyist who edited this chapter. I am always gratefull for the help as I can edit other people's stories really well but can't edit my own story to save my life._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny

* * *

_

Rey sat in his room.

Alone.

He was due to leave on the mission in 3 hours, and many things still needed to be preped till then. Ezekiel was working overtime trying to hack into the system and register them with ZAFT; Cedric had taken temporary command of the Kamaitachi until Suzuka returned, and overall, most of the ship was starting to return to their morning shifts.

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Enter." he spoke.

Suzuka opened the door, smiling at him.

"What do you think?"

She wore a common ZAFT uniform. Rey stared at her a moment, and then smiled,

"It looks fine."

Suzuka set a bag on his bed, and sighed, sitting next to him.

"Rey, are you sure you're alright?" she asked, "I mean, Kira-san did say that you didn't have to go if it was too hard on you."

"I have to go." Rey said, lowering his head slightly, "I don't have a choice because...there is no one else that can do it."

Suzuka was quiet for a while, and then she reached into the bag. Sitting in her hands was the uniform for a ZAFT elite. Rey slowly took it from her, staring at the uniform in his hands. It had been years...no...a lifetime since he had worn a ZAFT uniform. His hands were shaking slightly as he stared at it.

_Where is Rau?_

_They are traitors...we mustn't allow traitorous acts..._

_I'll go to the control center and raise the door..._

_This is a new mobile suit. It's called the Legend..._

_I am Rau Le Creuset..._

_Legend..._

Rey suddenly gasped, feeling the room spin. Suzuka knelt in front of him, instantly laying her hands on his face. He was slightly feverish.

"Rey!" she brushed the long hair from his eyes, "Rey...are you alright?"

He stared at her for a moment. There were tears in the corners of his eyes.

Something felt wrong. When his old memories began to surface, he began to feel like he was losing himself in that past. Like his old personality was starting to take over again. Rau Le Creuset still slept in his soul, and he was trying to break free.

A cool cloth touched his forehead.

"Suzuka." he looked at her.

"Take it easy a moment." she smiled uneasily, "Don't want you to overdo it."

"I'm sorry." he nodded, "I don't know what happened."

"It's alright." her fingers brushed gently over his pallid face, "I'm here to take care of you."

He could not help but smile at her. Leaning foreward, he rested his head on top of hers. After a few minutes, his feeling of dizziness subsided, and he stood up straight. Helping her to her feet, he then sat her on the edge of the bed.

"Stay here."

Taking the uniform with him, Rey disappeared into the bathroom. Suzuka watied patiently until he stepped out.

She was sure that she was staring with her mouth open.

He looked handsome and authoritative. There was no doubt in her mind that when he was originally in ZAFT, he commanded absolute respect. Suzuke had heard from his squad members that he was strict and to the point. Never saying nonsense, and never fooling around.

This Rey that stood in front of her was a Rey that she was not familiar with. The man standing in front of her was not that the person she saved from the medical lab a few months ago.

This was Rey Za Burrel, a ZAFT ace, and mobile suit pilot elite.

Standing in front of her, he smiled slightly, "What do you think?"

"Not bad." she blushed, _not bad at all..._

His hands were shaking still, but not as much as before. Suzuka stood up, and folded her hands behind her back.

"We should probably move on to the launch bay. Ralph is setting up a shuttle for us."

"Good." Rey nodded, "Suzuka-san?"

"Hm?"

He suddenly grew serious.

"Whatever happens on this mission, do not take any unessecary risks. Do not leave my side."

"It will go smoothly." she said, "Don't worry Rey, nothing will happen to either of us. We'll rescue Cagalli-sama, and then return to Orb for our next mission."

"Just promise me..." he said, holding onto her shoulders, "Promise me that when we leave together, we'll return together."

Suzuka stared into his eyes. They were mixed with worry, apprehension, and fear. Standing on her toes, she lightly kissed him, brushing the hair out of his eyes tenderly.

"Don't worry." she said, "I promise."

* * *

The alarm beeped.

"...damn it..."

There was a ruffle in the room, and a few whispered profanities.

"...what did I tell you about swearing...dummy..." she murmured.

"Shut up. I'm not a morning person."

"I guess not."

He reached out of the sheets and slammed the alarm off.

Tess tightened her arms around his chest, pressing her face into his warm skin. He laid on his back, staring at the ceiling, his eyes still closed. He could feel her weight pressing down on the top of him, and he did not mind it at all. One of his hands rested gently on her lower back, the other rested on the pillow next to his head.

"I don't wanna."

Virgil smirked, "We have to get up eventually, love."

"Love?" she blushed, looking childishly up at him, a grin spread across her face.

His brown eyes smiled at her.

Pulling herself up over him, she pressed her lips to his.

"That's not a good way to try and get me up." he groaned, wrapping his arms around her, "I'll never get up that way..."

He opened her mouth, tasting her, pulling on her bottom lip with tenderness. Tilting her head back, he pressed his lips to the inside of her neck, feeling her pulse through her almost snow-white skin. As he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, there was a beep coming from the com link. It was then that he realized that he was on pilot duty till Rey came back. That was probably Ralph demanding to know where he was.

"Fuck..." he said, resting his head on top of hers. His back pressed against the headboard, and she lay in between his slightly bent, long legs.

"Virgil?" she looked at him.

"Wait here." he slid out of bed, pulling the sheets around her. He slipped on his shorts and pants as he walked into the next room. Sitting at the desk, he turned on the computer. Ralph stared at him, looking slightly put out.

"Look kid-" Ralph sighed, "-I know that sometimes people could use a break from work, but procrastination is not the way to go."

Virgil frowned, "I apologize, Ralph-san. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"You'd better." he said. After a few seconds of pause, there was a smirk on the engineer's face, "Tell Miss Reiah that her shift is about to start to."

Virgil blushed, "Ralph-"

The com link shut off, and the room was once again filled with darkness. He sighed, running his fingers through his messy hair. Strolling back into his room, she was already up getting dressed. Zipping up the dress from behind, she turned to face him.

"I have duty." he said, "Stay as long as you need to."

"Thanks."

He slipped on his shirt and his uniform, and headed towards the door.

"Tess?"

"Hm?" she looked at him while she was fixing her hair in front of the mirror. Staring at her for a little longer, he smiled,

"Nothing."

She shrugged, "Okay. Be careful."

"You too."

* * *

Cedric sat on the main bridge, looking over the reports. Everyone sat quietly on the bridge, and sensing the tense air, he suddenly stood up.

"It's time everyone."

Ezekiel, Tess, Virgil, and Cedric left the bridge.

* * *

Rey followed Suzuka down the hallway, carrying his bag on his shoulder. They were going to be logged in as temporary fill-ins from May City who were inspecting the ranks. It was not unusual that ZAFT would once in a while send random elites around the military to observe and see out the soliders were fairing in their environments.

Rey glanced at his ID card,

"Rei Minami?" he raised an eyebrow.

"It's the best Ezekiel could do in such a short amount of time." she said, holding up her card, "Mine says Keiko Hino."

"Not too bad, could be worse." he slipped the ID back into his pocket. They would be able to use these cards to break through security.

Approaching the bay doors, Suzuka gasped as they opened.

The entire crew stood in the bay. Cedric stood at attention, and almost on cue, the entire crew saluted to her. She smiled brightly at Cedric, trying very hard to keep her calm in front of the rest of the Kamaitachi crew.

"I pray for your safety."

"Commander Helms." she shook his hand, "Please take care of my ship."

"I swear on it, Captain." he smiled, "Like always." Cedric then turned to Rey and frowned, "I leave her care in your hands. If anything happens to her, I don't care if you are the one of the best mobile suit pilots alive...I will load you into a missile tube and shoot you into the nearest asteriod."

"Yes, sir." Rey chuckled.

They said their good-byes and Suzuka followed Rey up the ramp of the shuttle that was painted to look like a ZAFT ship. She sat in the co-pilot's chair, looking over the last minute papers as Rey started the engine.

"_Suzuka-san_."

"Vana?" Suzuka looked up.

"_Please be careful. You too, Rey-san._" she said, "_I will pray for your safe return_."

"Thank you, take care of the ship and my crew."

"_Of course, Suzuka-san_."

The docking bay doors opened, and Rey set course for Aprillius One.

* * *

Miriallia walked along the trail.

The caravan of people traveled among the trees and bushes, concealed from the enemy forces above. She looked at the sky, and sighed.

_I love you..._

She felt strange. It was not really a feeling that she could describe. Miriallia was not sure if that was a good or bad thing. Dearka had told her once before that he was in love with her, and she had thrown in his face.

Truthfully, if Miriallia were to attribute the feeling she had with a word, it would probably be fear.

She was afraid.

Looking foreward, Dearka was walking about 10 feet in front of her. He was looking over some maps with Eli, and they were chatting. The rifle was strapped to his back, as well as the handguns that were held in the holsters that were buckled to his chest. There was a black strap tied around his right leg were he kept a standard issue army knife. He was ready to go into a battle at any moment.

Dearka ran his hands through his hair. The gel had long since worn out, and stuck in every direction, falling partially in front of his face. It was long now that it was not slicked back, and she could see why he liked it out of his face. His loose white, button-down shirt needed to be washed, and he rolled up the sleeves to his elbows to hide the fact that his cuffs were dirty. The black slacks he wore were starting to get slightly tattered at the ends.

But despite all of these things, he was still perfect.

Miriallia felt her heart constrict as she watched him walk. Memorizing every move he made, all the lines on his back, the way he talked and looked...

"Mir?" he called, "You alright?"

She gasped, not aware that her face was bright red. After Dearka had woken up that night, she had not told him about what she heard in his sleep. It seemed the rest and making time to eat decent meals was fixing him. Ellanor had also threatened to tie him down and force feed him if he did not take care of himself, a threat that she was perfectly capable of carrying out.

"Fine." she replied.

"You sure? You look a little flushed."

_Damn it..._

"I'm okay!" she bellowed at him, blushing even more.

He held up his hands in surrendor, "Well, excuse me for living."

She immediately felt guilty for snapping at him. He was working his butt off every day and all she did was demand things on him, and yell at him for things that were not his fault.

Dearka shrugged and turned back to Eli.

"What's her deal?" Dearka made a face, "I just asked if she was okay..."

"It's been a long day." Eli sighed, "We've traveled a great distance today and had fewer breaks."

"We're getting closer. Only about 3 more days of walking left." Dearka sighed, "Thank the gods...I could really use a decent shower."

Eli nodded in understanding. Everyone was exhausted and tired of being outside. Looking at the horizon, the sun would be almost completely set in an hour. Dearka looked at the map, and stopped,

"This should be a good spot." he said, "Let's set up camp here."

"Alright." Eli said, leaving to tell the head jeep to stop the traveling train of cars.

Dearka turned and walked towards Miriallia, who was looking into the forest.

"Miriallia?" he laid a hand on her shoulder. She jumped under his touch, and he looked at her strangely. _What was wrong with her?_

"Dearka!" she said a little too loudly, "What is it?"

"We're stopping for the day." he said, then pointing with his thumb,"After we set up camp, meet me at the treeline over there."

"Why?" she looked at him curiously.

Dearka smirked, "It's a surprise."

Folding the maps back up, he set off to organize the camp. Miriallia stared at him in curiosity.

_What is he planning now?

* * *

_

The door opened, and Alex smirked.

"Strange to see you here."

Katsuya sat at the table, still dressed in his blacks, drinking a shot of the whiskey that was sitting on the table. Alex casually walked over, and sat at the table across from him. Micka was asleep soundlessly on a futon in the corner. She was surrounded with paper reports, books, and files. Her laptop sat on the floor, still displaying the report due tommorrow. It was obvious that she had been asleep for a while.

"So, how did it go?"

"I came really close to losing my life today."

"Woah, is he THAT strong?"

"Yes, he is that strong." Katsuya replied, "Either that or his will for revenge is so strong that he could probably defeat anyone. He's like a caged tiger ready to pounce."

Alex snorted, looking at the whiskey bottle before he screwed the cap on. Katsuya hardly ever drank any alcohol. The only time he had seen the red-haired elite drink was after a particularly hard mission. Judging from how much was gone, Katsuya was not lying about Athrun Zala.

"Did he listen?"

"Yes." Katsuya said, titling the glass and watching the liquid from the outside of the glass, "He's rather wise for someone our age. I suppose the forces are already reaching the PLANTS...Zala agreed to the purposal."

Alex sighed tiredly, leaning backwards on the chair, and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. Katsuya had been looking out the window, not moving as the haunting melody floated in his ears. His friend sang quietly enough to not wake Micka, but the words in the song stuck out in Katsuya's head as if Alex had been screaming them.

_I stand alone in the endless field,_

_wondering when it was that I last felt alive._

_Fighting as if my life were to end._

_Fighting deep into the depths of my soul._

_When was it last that I felt the rain,_

_or the beat of a heart,_

_or the voice of the one that I love?_

_I sing a kyrie of darkness, _

_watching as I loose myself in the pain and sorrow again._

_Nevermore shall I see your smiling face, _

_or hear the music of your laugh,_

_as I loose myself in the chaos to come._

_Nevermore._

_Nevermore..._

"Alex?" Katsuya murmured painfully as the song faded.

"What?"

Sometimes, Katsuya would forget that this war was taking a toll on his friends as well. He was not that only one that had been forced to give up everything for Twlight. Micka never talked about her past, but both she and Katsuya were well aware that Alex had given up his career and life for Twlight. But despite the fact that their lives were gone, they still had each other.

This was a thought that had kept Katsuya alive during the hard times, and that was something he never forgot.

After a few moments of silence, Katsuya sighed, "Nevermind."

* * *

_Still listening to "Kodou Whenever"_

_Thanks for reading the chapter. PLEASE review. I'm actually just a little curious as to how many people are reading the story. The next update will be eventually...soon...sometime. But not too long, so don't panic just yet :D_

_Arigato _

_Lilith_

_(uwah! i love Okiayu Ryuutarou's voice!)_


	8. Interlude, Fanfic on Chapter 10

_This is something I came up with on a whim.A sort of fanfiction to my fanfiction. _

_This scene is a variation of Chapter 10 from part 1 of Eternity Rising, and I added an extra scene. This story is half YzakxDearka and half YzakxShiho, so you have been warned. This interlude is purely the fangirl in me. The next chapter of Eternity Rising will be up before the end of the week. _

_Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

Honoka glarred at the fleeting ships, and he sighed.

_I will not tollerate anymore mistakes..._

"Charge the Tanhauser."

Dearka gasped as the cannon opened and was locking onto the Voltaire.

"Captain Jule!" Abby yelled, "Captain Honoka's ship has locked onto us with it's Tanhauser cannon!"

"Is he crazy?" Bjorkland said, "If he fires that into earth's atmosphere-"

"Chairman Trent must have really threatened him." Yzak frowned.

"At this height-" Reiah told her captain, "-it runs the risk of frying earth's atmosphere."

"We can't allow that." Cedric said, "We should send one of the pilots up there to destroy it."

"We can't leave anyone behind. We're already past third stage entry." Suzuka replied, "We just don't have time-"

Dearka sat in his cockpit, listening to the communication lines between his ship, his fellow squad members, and the two Captains.

He smirked, maybe today was a good day to die.

"I'll go!" Shiho called, "I can withstand the heat more in the DEEP Arms."

"NO!" Yzak shouted, suddenly alarmed, "You can't!"

"I'm the only logical choice! I have to go-"

She yelped as something grabbed her, throwing her mobile suit violently back into the launch bay. Dearka entered the codes for the docking door.

"Dearka, what are you doing?" Shiho gasped.

Yzak watched in horror as Dearka's Zaku left the ship, and shot towards the attacking fleet. He slowly stood up, hearing nothing in his own mind as the long gun Dearka kept with his Zaku was drawn and aimed right at the Tanhauser cannon as it was about to fire.

* * *

Yzak stood on the balcony, leaning on the railing. His white shirt was unbuttoned, and he held a glass of white wine in his hand. The events of that day's coucnil ran through his head, not having completely dawned on him yet. It was not in Yzak's personality to drink in this point of his life, but it helped to calm him down when there was something lingering in his mind that was sure to kick him in the ass later. 

He would never be allowed to be with the one he loved. Looking down in his other hand, Shiho's ring sat in the middle of his palm. Being so lost in his thoughts, he did not hear the deck door open.

"Yzak."

The dazed silver-haired solider looked on his best friend, and sighed, looking back at the darkened horizon of PLANT. Dearka walked over to him, and leaned his back against the railing. He had heard from his father what happend when Tad Elthman burst into the house that night, swearing and cursing about something that had happend in the council. After Dearka's mother proceded to calm him down, Dearka could not help but evesdrop on his parent's conversation. From the very beginning, Dearka's father had disliked Trent, but now he Dearka was sure his father hated him.

All that he remembered now, was that Yzak wanted to get married and Trent was a bastard about it. The meeting ended with Trent assuming complete control over the council, Yzak being expelled, and the engagement with Shiho being over.

"You're drinking."

"Ah."

"You never drink."

"Ah."

Dearka looked at the floor, "The council said no, didn't they?"

Yzak frowned.

_"Yzak!" Shiho shrieked, running after him in the hallway, "Stop! Please, you mustn't! They will-"_

_"I don't care!" he yelled, "I don't care anymore! I don't fucking care if they approve or not!"_

_"YZAK!" she grabbed his arm, "Stop..."_

_He stopped a foot from the council chambers door. Shiho hung on his arm, tears poured down her face._

_"The council ...they will say no."_

_"I don't care." he pulled her up to face him, "Don't you understand? I love you."_

_She gasped._

_"I would give up my career, my life...just to be with you." he said, "I will convince them. I can convince them to allow us to get married."_

_He tangled his fingers with hers, touching the engagement band on her hand. Leaning foreward he kissed her,_

_"Trust me." he said, "Trust me. I can do this."_

_She stared as he slipped away from her, stepping into the council room._

Yzak stared at the horizon. He had not seen Shiho, heard from her, or had any intention of calling her.

Shouting...

"I shouted." Yzak said.

"You usually do."

"I shouted at the PLANT council." he said, "I practically begged them. But it wasn't an engagement approved by the council, and they...they called her in and ordered her to recant. Trent...Trent had competely assumed control of the council. He ordered Shiho to return the engagement ring in front of everyone, and renounce the engagement or I would be facing a court martial from ZAFT."

"What?"

"Of course, she did it." Yzak chuckled, "And in the end, I was thrown out of the council. Despite Counciler Hahnenfuss, your father, and over the half the council trying to keep me there."

Dearka gasped, looking at Yzak. His silver, straight hair fell in front of his eyes.

In all the years that Dearka had know Yzak, he had never seen him this way. Yzak was not easily disturbed by things, but because of the incedent with Shiho and Councilman Trent, it was was easy to tell that Yzak was close to the end of his rope.

"What am I going to do, Dearka?" Yzak said.

He was smiling, but there were tears in his eyes. Dearka stared at him in horror as Yzak laid a hand on his own face, trying to hide the tears. Although Dearka had not known about Yzak and Shiho till late, he could seriously understand the feeling of being abandoned.

_Miriallia._

"I can still feel her in my head." Yzak's hand covered his face, "I can hear her laugh, see her smile...it's like some form of torture."

"Trent did it on purpose." Dearka said, "He hates you."

"That's obvious!" Yzak roared, "He wanted me off the council. The only way he could do it was this way. Now Shiho has to suffer as well..."

Dearka stared at Yzak, "You really do love her, don't you?"

Yzak frowned, not saying anything, "I'm going to take the Voltaire and I'm going to fight them, Dearka. If Trent and Twlight doesn't let me have her, then he can't have either of us."

"Well..." Dearka leaned his head back, looking at the sky, "You know that I will not leave your side, Yzak. No matter what happens."

Yzak frowned, "You don't understand what you're saying. If you come with me...you will be hunted like Twlight will hunt Shiho and I."

"I will never leave your side." Dearka repeated, "We've known each other for too long, Yzak. You know that whatever happens, I will stay with you."

"You lier." Yzak looked at the ground, "Hypocrite...if you have forgotten, you were the one that betrayed me."

Dearka looked at him from the corner of his eyes.

"It seems not matter how hard I try, I always end up alone in the end." Yzak replied, "That's just pathetic-"

He stopped.

A hand laid on his face. Dearka was still staring at him, smearing the tears of Yzak's cheek with his thumb.

"I swear I will never betray you."

Yzak whispered, waving his hand away, "You bastard, I already told you-"

His eyes snapped open, and the wind glass slid from his hands.

Dearka leaned foreward and kissed him. Sliding his hands over Yzak's face, he opened his mouth, and tilted the Zaft captain's head back to better kiss him. After a few moments, he slowly pulled away. Holding onto the railing to keep from falling off, Yzak stared into Dearka's violet eyes in shock.

"I swear on my life." Dearka said.

Jumping off the railing, he walked towards the doorway.

"I wish Miriallia loved me as much as Shiho loved you." he said, "I can still hear her words in my head, and I will never forget her as long as I live."

"Dearka-"

"I'm still in love with Miriallia, and you're in love with Shiho." Dearka shrugged, "You desarved to be with her, and to be happy. Just let me give you one piece of advise, Yzak..."

The captain stared at him.

"You fight for her, and love her with everything that you are." Dearka said, "That is all that you need to know."

Yzak watched as Dearka left. Still staring at where Dearka stood in shock, he slumped against the wall.

_Thank you, Dearka..._

* * *

"Dearka." Yzak whispered. 

Dearka fired the rifle at the cannon before it fired.

There was an explosion, and he heard Shiho cry out as debris from other mobile suits and damaged ships began to enter the atmopshere along with them. Yzak stared in shock as they entered the earth's atmosphere. Seeing nothing but fire and falling metal as they shot towards earth.

Dearka...

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

_Okay, this chapter was VERY rushed. I really did not have the time to finish it and then mail it to my beta editor (I am so sorry, psychoanalyst-san! I will send you the next chapter once its finished) So I apologize in advance if there are any errors. I'm leaving for Germany tommorrow, so I just wanted to get it up in time._

_I will not update for 2 weeks because I will be on orchestra tour._

_I hope you like the chapter. It's really long, but it works. The next chapter will be action packed, so that is something to look foreward too. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

"...this sucks..." he murmured to himself. 

Shinn was pretty sure that he hated his life right now.

He satin the briefing room, Lunamaria on his right side, with a bunch of other soliders. Everyone was listening to Major Hahneufuss' presentation, and thinking about the time they would be spending on Carpentaria.

A few days ago, Athrun has asked Shinn if he and Lunamaria would do a favor for him. Thinking that it would be something ZAFT related, they returned to the capital right away only to find that Athrun had assigned them command posts on Carpentaria. Although Captain Jule was joining them, Shinn was given almost complete authority over the base.

And he was annoyed as hell.

Spending the next couple weeks or so on some base ordering people around was not exactly his idea of a _swell _time. However, considering the fact that he and Luna techinically worked for the young Orb lord, they had no choice but to accept. After seeing Rey and everyone else off to space, Lunamaria and Shinn were left to take care of things with Captain Jule and rest.

"...I'll get you for this Zala..."

"Do you have something add, Commander Asuka?" Yzak's voice boomed over the conference room.

Shinn instantly jerked up, "No, sir."

"Good." Yzak leaned foreward, "Please continue, Major."

The other thing he was sure of, was that Yzak Jule was scary as hell.

Leaning back in his chair, the silver-haired captain rested his face on one of his hands, staring intently at the major. Shinn had heard that Yzak and his ace pilot were engaged, and seeing the ring on her finger it only confirmed as much. As the presentation ended, Yzak turned to the rest of the officers,

"This is a very sensitive operation, so I want everyone to work at top shape. I don't want to hear anyone making any mistakes." Yzak then added, "If you make a mistake, it will get you killed."

There was a silence in the room.

"Commander Shinn Asuka will be taking charge of the Carpentaria troops." Yzak continued, "I want you all to give him the same respect that you give me."

"Aye, sir!" the other officers repeated.

Shinn had a bad feeling from the start. Someone as young as he was, was taking charge of a base of soliders that were usually 10 years his senior, and had much more experience the he did. Shinn was pretty positive that the whole reason why Athrun stuck him in charge was because he trusted him, and there were not many people Athrun trusted.

Most of the officers had come from Orb or had been stationed on the Voltaire. Glancing over at Lunamaria, she shrugged and began passing out the reports in her hands.

"These are all the reports that should be filled out and turned in ASAP once every reports to Carpentaria." Shinn explained, "They have everything from duty rosters to your flight training agendas, so don't loose them. I want all maintance on mobile suits finished before departure."

"Aye!" there was a sounding echo in the room.

Shinn looked at Yzak after the reports had finished being passing around the room, and the captain nodded back to him.

"Alright people, look alive here. It's obvious to everyone that there's a battle in the near future, so take care and rest well. Dismissed."

All of the officers left expect one. He was not that much older then Yzak was, however, he had a the same sort of commanding air about him. Yzak clapped his hands together,

"Asuka." he said, "This will be your second, Leutinant Kazuho Fall."

"Sir." Fall saluted to the young commander, who repeated the action.

"I will be relying on you a lot." Shinn said.

"That's to be expected, sir." he said, "Is there anything else?"

Shinn glared at him.

"No, you're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir."

Yzak arms were folded as the other man left. He snorted,

"What do you think?"

"He's a smartass." Shinn sighed, "But I'll manage."

Shiho walked over to them, "Good, because I told them that if I get any bad reports from Lunamaria-san that there would be hell to pay." she laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind." Lunamaria sighed, feeling a sudden surge of pity for anyone that had ever been stationed on the Voltaire.

Yzak shook Shinn's hand, "Good luck, Asuka."

"You too, sir."

* * *

Miriallia stood outside. 

It was dark except for the bonfires in the area. The whole traveling group was spread out in the forest, and she could see light from bonfires all around her. It looked like firefly light among the trees.

Glancing at her watch, she sighed. She had been waiting there for almost 30 minutes, and he was late. Whatever it was that was keeping him bettter had be important, or she would start to get even more annoyed then she was now. After a whole day of traveling, she was exhausted, sore, tired, and covered with dirt. All she really wanted to do was sleep, but she had promised Dearka to meet up with him.

"Yo!"

She turned as Dearka walked towards her.

"Sorry, I'm late." he shrugged, "One of the jeeps broke so I had to fix it."

"Multi-talented." she chuckled.

"Hey, what can I say? I'm a man of many virtues."

"I'll bet." she laughed, "So, what was it that you wanted to show me?"

He hauled a bag on his shoulder that she had just noticed.

"Come with me."

She followed him through the trees, her eyes fixed on his back the entire time. Despite the fact that she had stared at it the entire day, she was not tired of looking at him at all. Miriallia yawned, and Dearka turned to smile at her.

"Tired?"

"Exhausted." she said, "I can't ever remember being this tired-"

She yelped as she tripped over something. Finding herself wrapped in a pair of strong, dark-skinned arms. With her face pressing into his chest, she could not help but smile. Dearka tilted her face up to his,

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"It's not much further. Right behind these bushes." he took her hand and lead her down the rocky path.

"Dearka, what is it that's so important that you had to lead me all the way-"

He pulled back that branches, and she gasped. The warm steam that rose from the water seemed to make her entire body relax and clear her headache on contact.

"Hot springs?" she stared at them.

"Yeah." he nodded, "I noticed them on the map, and I thought that maybe we could check it out. I don't know about you, but I really would like a hot bath right now."

She blushed, _what?_

"Dearka?"

He walked over, setting the bag on the ground, he ran his fingers through the water and sighed.

"Just perfect." he grinned, "Wanna go for a dip?"

Miriallia's mouth dropped open, "I...uh-"

He stood up, pulling off his dirty shirt, "Is something wrong?"

"I..." she looked away from him.

Dearka then smirked at her, realizing what it was that was bothering her. He turned his back to her, covering his eyes with his hands, "I won't look."

She never had felt so self-conscious in her entire life. There were many times where she had to change clothes in front of people on her travels, but this was different. Dearka was standing just a few feet away from her.

Slowly she peeled off her clothes, folding them neatly on the ground. It did not matter that it was dirty, her clothes were already so dirty from the journey. Crossing her arms over her chest, she lowered herself in the water.

It was absolutly wonderful.

"What do you think?" he asked, his eyes still covered.

"Its...great." she grinned to herself.

"Good." he said.

Almost emidatly, he pulled the belt off his pants. She quickly turned her back to him, covering her own eyes. Dearka snickered as he undressed himself, his clothes tossed in a messy pile next to her neatly folded ones. He then slid into the spring across from her.

"This IS great." he smiled, closing his eyes, "You can look if you want. I'm not that hideous."

Miriallia slowly looked behind her hands. She felt her heart race and her breath caught in her throat.

The water and the moonlight made his skin shine. Dipping his head into the water, he used it to slick his hair back. A few strands stuck to the sides of his face, and then he leaned his head back, looking at the night sky. His arms were stretched out, and she could see his muscles flex every time he moved. He was a powerhouse of a solider, and it was obivous that he had a lot of raw strength.

"I don't know about you, but I'll be glad when this is done." he said, "Getting back to civilization and all that."

"You?" she smiled, "I thought you liked this sort of thing."

"Sure." Dearka shrugged, folding his arms behind his head, "But the whole running for our lives part isn't fun, that's just a pain in the ass."

"You got that right." she said, "How long do those Twlight people tend to chase anyway?"

"Probably all the way to Carpentaria." he said, "I've been watching them, and I have a bad feeling."

"About what?"

"There are a lot of regular soliders, but I'm pretty sure there are at least two or three elites with them. We've been lucky so far because we haven't had to deal with them. But, if they decided to get serious, there would be a problem." he said, "I could probably take on one on my own with just the resources I have, maybe two on a good day, but not three."

Miriallia sighed.

"Don't worry though, I promised to protect everyone and that's what I'll do."

After a silence, she asked the question that had been nagging her for a while.

"What...what are you going to do when you get back?" she asked, "Go back to ZAFT?"

It wa a valid question, and it had been worrying him for a while as well.

For the first time in a long time, he felt like he belonged somewhere. Being by her side, traveling, protecting her...it was something that he wished he could keep doing. But he knew that she would never allow it, and with the war, there was no way he could leave the service.

"Go back to work, I guess." he said, "What about you?"

She really did not know.

"Report back to Orb for my next assignment."

"I see."

That was the end of it. They would part ways and never see each other again.

Suddenly, Miriallia felt a sting of saddness in her heart. Staring at the churning water, she began to muster all the courage she had to say the next set of words. The words that she should have told him a long time ago.

"Dearka..." she said, "Dearka I..." Looking away from him, she began again, "...I heard you talking in your sleep..."

"Oh? What did I say?" he laughed, "I have a tendency to do that when I'm really out cold."

"You..." she said, her hands figgeted in her lap, "...you told me..."

"Told you what?" he said, "Can't be all that bad."

"You said you were in love with me."

Dearka's eyes shot open in horror. Miriallia was still looking away from him. It was her oppurtunity to tell him what she really thought before she would loose the chance forever.

"I...listen Dearka, I-" she finally looked up.

_Gods, where did he come from?_

She had not heard him get up and move towards her. When Miriallia looked up, Dearka had somehow moved across the water and now stood in front of her. He stared at her with a serious, stern look in his eyes. It was not often that she got to see this serious, blatantly honest, side of him.

Suddenly, she felt cornered.

"Miriallia?"

"Y-Yes?"

He stood still a few more moments, and then his arm shot out from the water with lightening speed. Dearka grabbed her, pulling her into his arms, and crushed his mouth over hers. Taking a moment to let the surprise subside, she melted into his arms, kissing him back.

* * *

_She walked down the hallway, tucking the edge of her glove into the sleeve of her school uniform. Even though it was an artificial environment outside, it was still cold._

_"Hurry up slow poke!" the teenage booy stood at the doorway, his bag thrust on his shoulder like he was some sort of thug. Katsuya Kiriyuhi was a year older then her, but despite this, both of them looked like twins. _

_Suzuka made a face at him,_

_"Well, excuse me for wanting to look presentable." she said. "We may be going to the local academy, but it's not appropriate to look like peasants, Niissan."_

_"Just because we're rich and powerful doesn't mean that associating with other people our age isn't going to contaminate us, Suzu." he said, "Besides, you and June-dono hang out a lot and she lives at the local boarding house."_

_"June-chan doesn't count." Suzuka took her school bag from the servant waiting at the door, "I'm ready."_

_"Good, good." Katsuya replied, "Cause we're walking today and I don't wanna be late."_

_"WALKING?" she gasped._

_"What? Is that BENEATH you?" he gave her an exasperated look, "You're not made of glass, you know."_

_"ButToussan and Kassan-"_

_"Screw that. We're walking, so move your ass." _

_Suzuka sighed, and followed her brother out of the mansion. As they walked down the street, she had to almost run to catch up with her brother._

_"Niissan! Slow down!" she said, "We have plenty of time, and June-chan is meeting us on the way there."_

_"I know." he nodded._

_Turning the corner, Suzuka smiled, waving at June. The dark-haired girl stood at the corner of the sidewalk, smiling as she met up with the two siblings. She gave them a puzzled look._

_"No limo today?" she asked._

_"No." Suzuka sighed, "Niissan decided to be a rebel."_

_"Shut up." he folded his arms._

_June giggled as she watched them argue, "You two don't get along too well, do you?"_

_"Maybe if she wasn't such a spoiled brat."_

_"Spoiled? Maybe if you followed rules more often you wouldn't be scolded all the time!"_

_"Come now, children." June waved her hands at them, "We'd better get going, we don't want to be late."_

_They headed towards the school.

* * *

_

_It was a local prep school. Even though it was not the largest school on PLANT, it was well-known for producing elite students, many of which went on to ZAFT afterwords. Both Suzuka and her brother were entering the military after they graduated, as their family was mostly in ZAFT, it was just customary for the children in the head Kiriyuhi family to carry on the family 'buisness'._

_Before they entered, June stopped,_

_"Suzuka, can you go on ahead, I have to run an errand." she waved, "Bye Suzu-chan, Katsuya-kun."_

_"Later." Katsuya yawned._

_Suzuka shrugged, "Alright, I'll wait for you in class."_

_Suzuka entered the school, stopping at the lockers to switch her shoes. Shutting her locker, she headed down the hallway. Right before she turned into the classroom, she heard to familiar voices around the corner. Ducking behind the wall, she listened._

_"...would never work. Please, understand that I never meant to hurt you." she replied._

_"Oh? So you're just going to turn away from me? Leave me even though we've already done so much together?" he snapped._

_It was her brother and June. Suzuka leaned closer to listen._

_"It's not that. You don't understand the problem."_

_"I understand that you're afraid of yourself. If you were going to just lead me on and then dump me without a reasonable explination then maybe it would have been better if we had never met in the first place!"_

_"Katsuya!" she roared, "You don't even know what you're talking about!"_

_It took him by surprise, staring at her enraged face. There were tears in her eyes as she sunk against the wall. _

_"You don't understand."_

_"Maybe if you told me, I would." he said, "Damn it June, don't just run away from me."_

_Looking at the floor, she began to walk foreward. Katsuya frowned,_

_"June?"_

_She reached her hands towards his face and pulled him towards her. Turning her face to the side, she leaned towards his ear, and there was silence. It was obvious she was telling him something, but Suzuka could not pick up what it was._

_There was a thunk as Katsuya dropped his bag._

_"Wha..." he shook his head, "What do you mean you're a-"_

_"SHH!" she threw a hand over his mouth, "Now do you understand? Do you understand why I never let anyone know me? It would be the end of someone knew the truth."_

_"I know."_

_June stared at him a moment, and then picked her own bag up from the floor._

_"What you want to do with the information is fine with me." she said, "You know how I really feel."_

_"Do I?" he stared at the wall when she started to walk off._

_She stopped, "I love you, but if anyone found out about me, it would only bring you trouble."_

_Katsuya's fists tightened at his sides, "You can't just be alone. You need someone."_

_"I don't need anyone but myself." she said, "Everyone I ever knew or loved died. I don't want that to happen to you-"_

_He grabbed her shoulder, "I'm not letting you go."_

_"I'm sorry." she tore her shoulder away from him.

* * *

_

_Suzuka sat at her desk, her head resting in her folded arms. Something shook her shoulder, and she looked up to see June staring at her,_

_"Suzu?" June looked worried, "Are you alright? You look tired."_

_Suzuka frowned, her brother and June?How long had this been going on? Why ddi she never say anything? Why did HE never say anything?_

_"Suzuka?"_

_What was the secret that June told him?_

_"Suzuka, are you alright?"

* * *

_

"Suzuka-san."

She opened her eyes to find Rey's hand resting gently on her shoulder. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned,

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's alright, it was a long ride." he said, "Look."

In front of them was Apirillius One.

Suzuka frowned, the mission began now. They only had 3 days to find the princess, rescue her, and escape from the base.

"When we get to the docking port, let me do the talking." he said, "I don't want them to grow suspicious. If my aid starts giving orders, they may think something is up."

"Okay." she nodded.

"Make sure to keep contact silence until you're completely sure it's clear."

"Understood."

"Suzuka-san?" he looked at her, "Are you alright? You look a little pale."

"I'm okay, just tired." she smiled, "What about you? You've been flying this shuttle for a day straight."

"I've had worse." he said.

There was a blip on the com. Rey frowned, flipping the switch on the communications line.

"_Control Tower A589, this is Apirillius One to shuttle. Please state your purpose."_

"This is Commander Rei Minami requesting permission to dock to conduct an inspection of the base."

He held his breath, hoping that all of Ezekiel's hacking paid off in the end.

"_Confirmed. Shuttle 01, dock at port F._"

"Rogar that."

As the line switched off, Suzuka let out a sigh of relief. It seemed she was holding her breath as well.

"So far so good." she said.

"Let's hope the whole mission goes this smoothly." he said, lining up thedocking lights with the shuttle.

"Okay." she stood up, pulling her bag over her shoulder, "Let's show them what we're made of, Rey."

He smiled at her, "Aye."

* * *

_I hope you liked it :D_

_Wish me luck on my tour, and I hope everyone is having a good summer!_

_Arigato _

_Lilith_


	10. Chapter 10

Okay, I am very well prepared to take on any complaints of not updating enough. After my life completely decided to throw everything at me all at once, I have finally found the extra time to update. But that's not the end of the story.

Because its been a month or so, I am updating multiple chapters to the story. I apologize again for being lazy and not updaing. Please, don't stab me.

Word of warning, the story is going to start to pick up now. I'm not exactly how many chapters there will be in Part II, but probably around 20. I also edited all of the recent updated chapters myself, so if there are any mistakes, PLEASE don't tell me. I already know I suck at editing.

Thanks, everyone. Review and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny

* * *

Rey was pretty sure that if this was a real inspection, he probably would have passed them with flying colors. That is...if he had actually been a member of Twilight, which he was not. 

The soldiers greeted the both of them formally at the bay. Rey saluted the first officer, Brent Hayworth...whatever his name was..., and the proceeded to finding his quarters. Suzuka had complied with his request, and had taken the job of carrying around the papers and sticking to Rey like glue. Although she had been in ZAFT for quite a long while, she had agreed that it was best to let Rey take center stage in this mission.

"Would you hand me the report for the 16th, Miss Hino?"

"Yes, sir." she obediently handed him the clipboard.

She trailed behind him as he spoke with the officer. Suzuka had to admit...Rey was excellent. No one would ever suspect who they were, or their real intentions. Everyone on the base truthfully believed he was Commander Rei Minami and that she was Sargent Keiko Hino.

"...how are the 4th and 7th engines functioning?" Rey continued, "I find that in the past reports, these areas were the most neglected."

"They are functioning within 95 percent." Commander Hayworth told him, "I have made sure the maintenance crew tends to these engines everyday, as well as the others."

"The port side buster cannon was replaced last week, what was the reason behind this?"

"It was functioning abnormally, sir. We were afraid that it would be a danger to the soldiers."

"Indeed, very good."

It went on for most of the day. After a 12 hours work day, Suzuka thought she was going to keel over with exhaustion. The entire time, she trailed silently after Rey carrying papers, running errands, and answering to his orders. She really did not understand how Rey could keep going on for so long without any breaks. But once they dismissed the Commander to return to his duties, she followed Rey to his quarters. As the door slid shut, she set the papers on his desk and flopped on the bed.

"Tired?" he asked her.

"Yeah." she rolled on her side, "Now, I understand how my aids feel when I run them ragged around the ship."

Rey chuckled, "We're not finished yet, we only have 2 days to find Cagali-sama. Although, if everything works out, we'll free her tonight."

She nodded, and then sat up.

"Alright, so what did you find out?" she replied.

"Commander Hayworth is part of the Twilight structure. He may not know any access codes, but I am sure he has something stored on his server." Rey sat in his chair, and began to boot up the laptop. It was a special sort of machine that Ezekiel had given him. The computer was completely undetectable, and all transmissions were completely untraceable. Rey did not feel like asking the young hacker how he managed this, as he probably would not have understood anyway, even though Rey was well adversed in computers himself.

"Hail the Kamaitachi." Suzuka said, unbuttoning her collar, "I want to speak with Ezekiel."

"Yes, ma'am."

She watched his hands fly across the board, and before she knew it, she was staring at the tired eyes of Ezekiel Marks. He stared blankly at the computer, rubbed his half-closed eyes, and yawned.

"Mr. Marks...did you fall asleep at the helm again?"

"Captain." he rubbed his eyes, "Sorry...it boring as hell around here and I've been up for 2 days straight. Coffee just wore off so I nodded off on the console. Vana is monitoring the system for me..."

"Make sure to thank her later."

"Of course, Captain." he said, rubbing his head, "What's up?"

"I need you to hack a server for me."

The boy's eyes lit up slightly, hacking was one of the things he enjoyed in life. He smirked,

"Oh?"

"Commander Brent Hayworth." she said, "He may know Cagali-sama's location, please get whatever information you can."

"Consider it done, ma'am."

"Alright, and Mr. Marks?"

"Yeah?"

"Get some rest." she smiled, "Put Brooks on a shift."

He chuckled, "He's getting even less sleep then me, if you know what I mean."

Rey found himself chuckling at this statement as well. Suzuka smiled and shook her head, it could not be helped. At least everyone sounded happy, and that was all she cared about. Even though they were her subordinates, they were all her close friends.

"Understood." she said, "Kiriyuhi out."

The message ended, and Suzuka sighed, "I leave my ship for a day and look what happens. They work hard, but still..."

"As you said, Suzuka-san, it can't be helped."

She stepped back, and sat on the bed again. They would have to wait till the transmission of Ezekiel's information to come. They would need to analyze it and delete it right away, to avoid anyone actually finding the computer and discovering them. It would be a long night.

Reaching to take off her shoes, she flinched.

"Is something wrong?" he turned from the desk.

"My shoulders are sore."

Rey stood up, "It must have been from carrying all those files. I'm sorry I made you do all of that."

"It's alright." she shrugged, "I don't mind, it was a good work out."

"Here, let me."

She watched as he walked around the other side of the bed, pulling off his own shoes, and knelt behind her. Sitting cross-legged, he began to rub her shoulders. Smiling, she leaned back, letting him do whatever he wanted.

"That's nice."

Suzuka stopped, feeling his breath brush over her ear.

"Rey?"

His arms slowly wrapped around her, pulling her into his chest.

"On the shuttle, you had a bad dream."

She frowned, "Just bad memories."

"Tell me." he said.

Suzuka sat there a moment in his arms. For some reason, whenever she was with him, she was never afraid of anything. Rey watched as she pulled herself out of his arms and lay on the bed. She was facing away from him. She was not sure how telling the story again would effect her, and she never liked to cry in front of people.

"Suzuka?"

* * *

_"Niissan!" she ran after him down the street._

_He was upset, she could tell. Grabbing his arm, she stopped him._

_"What's wrong!" she yelled, "What wrong with you!"_

_Katsuya garred at her, "I don't want to go to war, Suzuka."_

_"What?"_

_It had been a year since she had overheard the conversation in the hallway. Since then, Katsuya and June acted liked nothing happened. The three of them still hung out together, played together, had fun...but there was always something in their eyes that scared her. _

_For Katsuya to express any feelings against battle were very unlike his character. Sometimes she was see him come home from long training sessions, and he would be unresponsive. Like something had simply snapped in his mind. It was getting worse and worse over the years, and now it was worse since he graduated and entered the academy_

_"I can't do this anymore, Suzu." he said, "I can't keep lying to mother and father, or to myself."_

_"I don't understand."_

_Katsuya turned to her, and wrapped his arms around her._

_"Whatever happens, Suzu...know that I will always think of you." he said, "I know that someday you will understand."_

_"Understand what? What is going on..."_

_He let go of her, and then he disappeared down the alleyway. _

_It was times like this that she was confused herself. Afterwards, she was go home, and simply lay on her feather bed and stare at the ceiling. Once in a while, she would hear her mother hum in the hallway, or her father pacing up and down the steps...but it was nothing out of the ordinary._

_It was the day she graduated that it first began._

_Katsuya sat next to her father as she accepted the diploma for her school. Turning around, June was not far from her, smiling and waving. As she stood off to the side, waving to her other classmates, she smiled at her brother, who waved back at her._

_"...June Von-hild Romanheim..." the announcer replied._

_June walked off the risers, heading towards the front. _

_Suzuka did not hear where the shot came from. All she remembered, was hearing a wave of screams from the audience, and watching as June began to fall to her knees. She remembered watching, speechless, and her best friend fell to the floor in a heap. It was the that she realized, it was the teacher announcing the names that had just shot her._

_He pointed the gun at the young girl. She rolled on her side, holding her bleeding shoulder._

_"Natural barbarians..."_

_Suzuka gasped, what? June was a-_

_"JUNE!"_

_Her brother sailed out of nowhere, landing on the stage. The bullet grazed his arm as he grabbed the elder man's arms and threw him to the floor. He lay in a heap as Katsuya took the gun from him. _

_"June-chan!" Suzuka ran towards her. _

_But her brother was already there. A crowd formed around them as he held the injured girl in his arms._

_"Call a medic!" he yelled, "She's been shot! She needs a doctor!"_

_June stared at them dazed, reaching out for Suzuka's hand. _

_"What did he mean?" Suzuka asked, "June-chan...he called you..."_

_It was then that she realized that June had gone limp in her brother's arms. _

_Hospitals always bothered her. They had a white and sulfur aura about them, something that only got stronger as the war started. Katsuya had been silent for a while, looking up at him, she finally asked..._

_"Niissan-"_

_"Suzu..." he looked at the glass that overlooked June's room, "...June is a Natural."_

_It was like the whole world broke at that moment. _

_"KATSUYA!" a voice boomed from down the hallway._

_She stared in horror as her father grabbed the young man and shoved him against the wall._

_"You little fool! What have you done?"_

_He garred at him, "Then only thing I could do, father."_

_"You knew?" he said, grabbing the top of his son's collar, he ripped it halfway down his shirt. Sitting on a silver chain was a golden ring._

_A wedding band._

_Suzuka stared at her brother, "Niissan? You-"_

_Her mother looked at him in shock, her father was enraged. Katsuya stared at them, defiantly._

_"I will not make any excuses." Katsuya said, "Other then the fact...that I love her."

* * *

_

"Suzuka-san!"

She jumped, looking at Rey, who was staring down at her in alarm.

"What?"

He reached his hands forward, brushing the tears from her eyes. "That's enough."

Trying to move her head away, he turned it back towards him. It was not a pleasant memory to remember. He sat there for the longest time, simply taking away her tears and brushing the hair from her eyes.

"I'm sorry." she replied, "I...I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright." he said, "I shouldn't have asked."

"Rey-"

He laid a hand over her lips, and leaned forward. Kissing her softly, pulling her into his arms, she rest her head against his shoulder.

"Sleep." he said, "I'll stay awake."

"But you haven't been sleeping much."

"I'll manage." Rey smiled, "Rest, I'll be right here."

She nodded, and felt herself slipping away.

* * *

Shinn Asuka stood on the helicopter launch pad, saluting to Yzak Jule once before he departed to make a short return visit to Orb. Apparently, Athrun Zala needed to speak to him about something important that could not be said over a transmission. 

"I'll be back soon, Asuka." Yzak said, "Take care of the base."

"Yes, sir." Shinn said, "You can trust me, Captain."

"Good." he nodded, boarding the copter, Shinn watched until it had disappeared in the clouds.

Turning around, he walked back towards the base. Walking along the boardwalk, he raised his arm slightly and glanced at his white uniform. Athrun had really made him a captain. Despite the fact that Yzak was a captain and still his superior, Shinn was still dressed in a captain's uniform.

It was something that he had never thought about. Truthfully, he hated the military and what he really wanted was to go back to the little house he and Luna stayed in. He wanted to return to his car repair job where the only thing he had to worry about was fixing carbirators and dealings with his boss who tried to rope him into occasionally employee poker games. Shinn also missed his late nights with a certain scarlet-haired woman. This though brought up another thought in his mind that he had been entertaining from time to time-

His cell rang.

Picking it up, he answered.

"Asuka here."

"Shinn!" Lunamaria's voice called, "Get over here quick!"

"Is something wrong!" he asked.

"There isn't much time. Just get here!" she said.

"Alright, I'll be there right away."

* * *

Dearka stared grimly at the map, exchanging glances with Eli, Ellanor, and Miriallia. The caravan of jeeps had stopped, and were waiting for his orders. 

"What are we going to do?" Ellanor sighed, "ZAFT has blocked all routes to Carpentaria. We need to get there soon or we WILL start having more then just injured on our hands."

Dearka leaned against the back of the jeep. Miriallia could tell he was exhausted...more then just exhausted. Running a hand threw his hair, he looked up at Eli,

"I think we should just meet them head on."

All three stared at him like he had grown a horn in the middle of his forehead.

"The eastern route takes us too close to the cliffs, the jeeps can't make it over that. We have some injured that could move over that area, but some that can't and I will NOT leave anyone behind. The western route takes us over the river, and unless jeeps can drive over waterfalls I don't think that's an option."

"Dearka-"

"We need to get to Carpentaria today." he said, "It's only five miles if we go on the northern route. Of course, if it doesn't work, we could go east and it'll add five days to our trip. No Twilight, but harsher traveling."

Before anyone could speak up, Ellanor put her hands on her hips,

"Well, I think we can do it." she said, "I think we've made it this far and we can make it."

"I agree." Miriallia nodded.

"Eli?" Dearka looked up at the elder man. He smiled at Dearka, and shrugged,

"We trust your judgment, Elthman." he said, "If you think we can do it, then we'll do it."

Dearka could not help but smile at that comment. He nodded, and after a couple more points to plan out, people disbursed to help prep the rest of the group. They were going to have to move fast. Twilight was only two or three hours behind them, and at the rate they were going, would catch them today if they did not reach the base.

Dearka let out a tired sigh, and leaned his head back, looking at the sky. A smirk spread across his face as he felt someone lean against his chest, wrapping her arms around him gently.

"You look like hell." Miriallia murmured.

"I'll bet."

Looking down at the top of her head, he buried his face in her hair. She was the only thing keeping him sane. Craning her head up, she pressed her lips to the inside of his neck. Miriallia did not have to do much to capture his attention. Pulling her face out of his neck, he kissed her lips, pulling the rest of her into his chest.

"When all this is over-" he kissed her cheek, moving onto her ear, "-I'm going to whisk you away and not let you out of bed for a week."

"Sounds like a good idea." she said, "But not after you get sleep."

"Fascist." he frowned.

"Dearka, you look like you're going to drop. Ellanor says you haven't been eating or sleeping. I know you're a Coordinator, but you're still a human being."

He smiled at her, resting his forehead on hers.

"I'll be fine, don't worry, Mir." he said, "I'll get us through this, and then I'll take a much needed vacation."

"Mmm...vacations." She smiled at the thought.

"Stay with me?"

Miriallia looked up at him for a moment. His strong arms tightened around her, waiting for an answer. By this point, she was tired of running away from him. Sliding her hands over his face, he stared at her in slight shock as she kissed him.

"Of course." she nodded, "Why would I say no?"

Dearka beamed at her, and scooped her up into his arms. She yelped, crying out and laughing at the same time. He could never get enough of her. Burying his face in her neck, he trailed his lips down her neck-

They were surrounded by screams as a loud explosion went off.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Review if you can.

Arigato

Lilith


	11. Chapter 11

Hey all. Yay for the next chapter :P

Thanks for reading, review and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny

* * *

The door whisked open, and Shinn was met with a roar of chaos in the control tower.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" he promptly called out.

"We have multiple readings on our radar, sir." Fall instantly handed the report.

"Mobile suits or people."

"Both."

"Damn." Shinn read over the papers.

A voice called out, "Multiple heat sources detected."

Looking at his helmsman, a woman in her late twenties, Shinn frowned, "Were there any training simulations assigned for today?"

"None, sir." Fall reported.

"Enemy units." Shinn growled, "Assemble squads 1-3, have them prepped and ready for launch." Pressing the button for engineering, he called out to Lunamaria.

"Yes?" she answered.

"I want you to go out with the troops."

"Roger that." she chimed back.

* * *

Dearka caulked back the anti-mobile suit rifle and fired one more time. Even with the jeep moving as fast as it was, they were not going to make it. Miriallia craned her neck around and handed him another cartridge.

"Elthman!" Eli called out from the driver's wheel, "The tree line!"

It was a mile away, less...Dearka smirked, maybe they would be able to beat those bastards anyway. Looking around, seeing the other jeeps successfully evading the enemy Zakus, he began to scan the area for any suspicious suits. He knew there were two or three elites in the bunch.

"Awe, come on!" Alex whined over the coded link, "Let me shoot him at once, he really pisses me off!"

"You can't shoot him just because he makes you angry, Alex." Micka's voice sighed.

"We swore to the princess that we would protect Orb. These people are originally from Orb territory." Katsuya told them both.

"Well damn..." Alex's thick Russian accent sounded disappointed. Whoever the hell that dark-skinned, blond dude was in that jeep he was giving a hell of a fight. His shot was so good, no one could risk getting closer. Already taking out three or four of the regulars with nothing but a anti-mobile suit rifle, Alex was not willing to take a risk with the son of a bitch.

"Wait for my signal." Katsuya said, "Till then, put on a good show for the audience."

"Understood." his team mates answered him.

Katsuya turned back to the battlefield, and gasped. He barely had time to move as the rifle centered from the head vehicle fired straight at him. After dodging it, he cursed. He had given away himself, and now the attacker would be focusing on him.

* * *

Dearka smirked,

"There you are, you sneaky bastard." he whispered to himself, firing again. He missed.

If he was in a mobile suit, he would not have. Although, whoever this was, they were not a half-bad pilot either.

He yelped as the jeep sped over a rock, and reached the tree line. They were immediatly in the middle of an airfield. Dearka felt himself grin as he set his eyes on the base of Carpentaria.

"DEARKA!" Miriallia shrieked.

He felt himself being flung into the air. After landing hard onto the lot, it knocked the wind out of him. After a few seconds of recovering, he sat up. Mobile suits filled the entire area, and a land battle had broken out around them.

_Miriallia._

It was the first thought on his mind. Eli was next to him, and touching his wrist, the old man was alive. Looking around frantically, he could not find her.

"Miriallia!"

* * *

Shinn had just learned how tall the trees in the forest behind the base really were. They had known the signatures on the radar were close, be he had not expected a battle to crash right into his backyard.

"Ah hell!" he leaned forward, grabbing the mic, "Launch all the squads right now!"

"Captain Asuka!" the helmswoman called to him, "There are civilians on the airlift field!"

It was then that Shinn realized the mobile suits were defiantly from Twlight, and they had been chasing a long caravan of jeeps filled with civilians. Feeling his heart beat faster, he suddenly wished that he could have done anything to avoid accepting this job from Zala. Next time he saw him, he did not care of Athrun was his superior, he was going to punch him in the face.

"What's the location of Captain Jule's craft?"

"It's out of range."

That was one less worry.

"Mobilize some troops, get those people to safety underground. Have the med team on full alert." Fall ordered, "Captain, youmust launch."

Shinn frowned at him, "Excuse me?"

Fall glared at him, "I think I can take care of things here fine, sir."

"I'm glad that you can."

His first-officer seemed furious. The man had been on his case ever since he had been assigned. Shinn had learned that if he had not been there, the man would have been promoted to head the base himself. Turning his back towards the view screen, Shinn promptly ignored Fall's request. He was not a dumbass, there was no way he would leave his position.

"Sir-"

"IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FOLLOW MY ORDERS THEN GET THE HELL OUT!" Shinn snapped. This earned a shocked expression from Fall and everyone else on the bridge. He turned back to the screen, he could not do much until the civilians were out of the way.

* * *

Dearka ran.

_Miriallia?_

She was nowhere to be found.

He stopped, a shadow looming over him. Looking up, a Zaku pointed a gun right at him. It dawned on him that he was completely defenseless. Holding his arms over his head, he heard an explosion, and looking up, the Zaku was a smoldering pile of metal. He turned around to see one of the Zakus that he had been trying to destroy earlier, gun pointed right at the mobile suit that had tried to attack him.

_What?_

Giving a somewhat bewildered look, the Zaku strode over to him, leaning over. Opening it's hand, Dearka recognized the familiar form of Miriallia.

"Miriallia!" he shrieked, holding on his arms as she slid out.

She was limp in his arms, a bloody gash in her forehead, but she was alive. Looking up at the mobile suit that was obviously her savior, he did not know what to do anymore. The Zaku positioned itself over Dearka, and did not move.

_Holy...what was going on?_

Sinking to the ground, the entire sight filled with explosions and blasts. But he did not hear any of it. Checking her over, Dearka shook her.

"Miriallia! Mir!"

She twitched slightly, and her eyes opened. Looking up at him groggily, then she reached up and touched the side of his face. He had not realized before that he had injured himself as well.

"It's okay." he read her mind, "I'm alright, don't worry."

With that, her head rest against his shoulder, and he looked up again at the Zaku that had saved her.

_What the hell was going on?

* * *

_

Shinn was lost beyond belief. His troops were holding their own against the enemy Zakus, but now there were apparently three rouge Zakus in the bunch that had completely turned forces. This was perfect, bloody perfect.

Slowly, the battle was dying down. There might have been enough Zakus to chase down a group of jeeps, but not to face the battalion at Carpentaria. As the last of the last of the enemy suits were fleeing, Shinn promptly hailed Lunamaria cockpit.

"Luna." he said, "Find out the intentions of those three suits."

"Yes sir." she sounded a little too happily.

With their rifles pointed at the three rogue Zakus, Dearka looked around while trying to assess the damage. Soldiers had been working all over the airfield to get people into the base. That was a good thing. Miriallia was alright, and so was he.

Suddenly, the cockpit door opened on the suit over them. He watched as a red-suited solider descended from the cockpit toe rope.

"An elite?" Lunamaria frowned. Looking at the other two suits, they did they same thing. The first pilot was a young girl, younger then she was, with short hair. She tucked the helmet neatly under her arm and waited patiently.

The second pilot looked like the leader. He had flaming red hair, and signaled to the girl-pilot to come to him. She nodded and promptly jogged over to his side. They, in turn, headed over to the third pilot.

Dearka stared at the man in front of them. He was about Dearka's age, with long brown hair. It fluttered wildly around him as he slid off his flight helmet.

"You're one stubborn son of a bitch." he sneered, "What the hell are you made out of? Concrete?"

"Maybe." Dearka smirked back at the brown-haired elite, "Thanks for saving Miriallia."

"I can never pass up the chance to save a pretty girl."

Dearka did not like him before, now his hated him.

"Alex." the red-haired pilot walked up to him, "That's enough."

Dearka spotted Lunamaria Hawke running towards them in the distance. He had met her once when she was on the Minvera. She was a gifted pilot for someone her age.

"Major Elthman!" Lunamaria ran towards him, gun pointed straight at the intruders, "You three, stay away from them!"

"Shesh." Alex held up his hands, "We save people and kick butt for them and look what happens. Hey..." he looked at Micka, "...did she just say that guy's name was Elthman?"

Micka shrugged.

Luna sunk at Dearka's side, checking Miriallia, "She's injured. I'll flag a car for her."

"I apologize if we seem strange to you." A baritone voice told her.

Luna stood up, standing in front of Dearka.

"I am Katsuya Kiriyuhi." he said, the tall pilot with red hair, "These are my team mates Vladamir Alexander and Micka Forrester. I know this seems odd, but we request assylm."

* * *

Suzuka moved slightly.

Under her head was a strong shoulder, and there was a slight weight resting on her waist. Looking up in the darkness, she saw the pale face of Rey. He was asleep, having fallen asleep not long after she did. Suzuka knew she was working hard, but Rey was taking the brunt of the work.

Rey had lay on top of the sheets, his uniform unbuttoned to his belt. She slowly pulled herself to sit up, looking down at him. She stroked a little hair from his face, and simply stared at him.

He was handsome and beautiful at the same time...intelligent, brave, wise, outspoken yet calm...he was everything that she ever wanted in someone. Truthfully, he reminded her a little of her brother, but there was something else about him that made her heart skip. Although she had tried to stay as professional as possible, she had to admit that she was falling in love with Rey. The way that he moved, talked, or looked at her made her hypnotized with him.

She leaned over, curling up next to him again. It felt strange having a night of undisturbed sleep. It was the first time in ages that she had not had any nightmares.

The hand that had been resting on her waist, which had moved to the pillow, suddenly rest on her shoulder. She jerked slightly, and looked up at a pair of blue orbs glowing at her in the dark.

"Rey?" she propped herself up on her elbows, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"I was half asleep." he said, "Did the message come yet?"

"Not yet."

It had been 4 hours, and Ezekiel had not replied back yet. Their entire night was getting close to over, and they had a shift that started in another 4 hours. Suzuka knew she should go back to her quarters soon before people grew suspicious, but she could not bring herself to leave.

Rey could not stop staring at her. He really did not know why, but she kept looking back at him with such intent that his eyes were fixed on her. If she did not say something soon, or make a move, or something...he might make a move of his own. Something that would not necessarily be a good thing.

She was driving him crazy.

"Suzuka-sa-"

He did not expect her to kiss him. Her lips pressed against his mouth, and he found himself laying limp on the pillows as she opened his lips.

"Stop calling me that." she said.

Suzuka gasped as he flipped her over. She knew he was strong, but he was fast as well, and had taken her by surprise. He was kissing her. His lips moving over hers, his hands resting on her face. They slowly slid down to her neck, over the center of her chest. It was then that she realized he had unbuttoned her uniform down to her waist. When the hell had he done that?

An arm wrapping around her shoulders, he tilted her head back and left a searing trail down her neck. Rey felt her arms around him, and he could feel all control slowly slip away.

"Suzuka-" he tried to speak again, but could not finish the sentence. Shepulled off the belt on his uniform, her arm rest on the side of the bed, and it slowly slid from her fingers. Reaching up, she took the long, red coat off his shoulders. He had muscular arms, which was a sign that he had been working out on the ship, and probably before while they were on shore-leave.

"That's better." she breathed into his ear, her hands running under the shirt he wore and over his bare back, making him shiver in her arms.

He smirked.

Rey never smirked.

"Aye, ma'am."

His voice was raspy in her ears, and she could hear his own short breath in her ear. At some point, everything stopped making sense. Her body moved on instinct, and she could hazard to guess that his was to.

She was beautiful, every part of her. Rey could feel her hands moving over his bare skin, and he could not stop himself from grabbing the end of her shirt, and pulling it over her head. He smiled at the small noise she made, her cheeks flushed a bright red. Her skin was so pale, pale as snow, that it made it look twice as noticeable.

He touched his lips to the inside of her breasts.

"Suzuka..." he breathed, touching his lips to the top of her ribs, and then to her stomach.

"Don't stop." she buried her hands in his long hair, pulling it free from the tie and letting it fall around his shoulders.

Pulling the shirt over his head, she tossed it to the floor with her own forgotten shirt. Grabbing his face, she pulled him up again, and kissed him. Running a hand down her side, he began to pulled up her right knee, hiking her skirt up her legs.

"Rey, I-" she breathed into his lips.

The message alert went off on the screen in the next room.

"Ignore it." he said.

He bent over to kiss her again, and the alarm kept going off. Rey let out an irritated sigh, and slowly climbed off of her. She lay motionless on top of the bed, and watched him walk into the next room.

Rey turned on the link, Ezekiel stared at him a moment.

"Did I wake you, sir?"

"I suppose you could say that." Rey replied, hoping that he did not look too shaken. His heart was racing in his chest. "What did you find out?"

* * *

Trent stood in his dim lite office, staring out the windows. He glanced one more time at the paper in his hands, and found himself feeling better. The situation suddenly had tipped into his favor. Oh the simple piece of white, folded paper in his hand there was one word scribbled on it.

**Legend.**

"It's quite a piece of news you told me, doctor." Chairman Trent sneered, "This may even allow us to catch the missy too."

"Suzuka Kiriyuhi was a great loss to our science department, sir." Hersh tilted his head slightly, with a little work, and some persuasion, I may be able to integrate her skills back into the force."

"I see." he wander over and sat at the desk, "Are you sure this is the right word?"

"Positive. We made sure to test his brain functions in simulations. It will have the acquired results."

"Thank you, it should come in handy. "What of our princess? How is she fairing?"

"She seems surrendered to her fate, sir. She won't even eat now."

"I don't care about that idealistic wench. Once I get her out of my hands, then I'll be able to take over Orb. Zala has no idea what he's doing, and without her, he'll be nothing."

"It disturbs me, sir."

"Oh?"

"That no one hasn't tried to break her out this week."

"Oh, there have been attempts." Trent nodded, "Captain Hayworth has done and excellent job of keeping the area secure and hidden from public eye. If Zala tries anything, we'll know it."

Hersh sighed, he had a bad feeling.

* * *

"We only have 24 hours." Rey walked back into the room. Holding up a disk, he set it on the counter, "Hayworth has her location here. We'll be able to get to her easily. There is a 15 minute gap when the security cameras go down for repair tonight. Marks found the logs, and says that it'll take 5 minutes to get there, and 5 minutes to escape. Judging and whether or not we have any trouble."

"That's not a lot of time."

Suzuka pulled herself to sit up. Rey sighed, walking towards her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he picked her shirt up off the floor. As she slipped it on, he pulled her into a lingering kiss. She stared at him in a daze, wishing that they were back at Orb at the moment and not on some base in outer space.

"I expect to continue this later." Rey whispered in her ear.

She blushed, and nodded at him.

"So, what the plan?"

"He's already alerted the fleet to the time frame, they are slowly moving here. We'll break Cagali-sama out, and escape threw the base. The Eternal sent a helicoper to meetus at the checkpoint, and they'll escort us from there."

"Sounds good." she said.

* * *

Both of them got dressed, and headed towards the door. Walking down the hallway in a nonchalant manner, Rey fished threw his jacket for the key. Sliding it threw the padlock, it opened.

"This hallway wasn't on the floor plan." Suzuka frowned, "What the hell do they do down here?"

"It didn't really say." he said, glancing in one of the many rooms that lined the hallway, he felt his heart constrict, "I think they torture prisoners here."

Suzuka gasped, _Cagali-sama..._

Reaching the end of the hall, he swiped the fake card one more time. Nothing.

Letting out a grunt, Rey pocketed the card, and opened the panel to the wall.

"This will take a moment, watch my back."

She looked at the door. There was a small window, but no one walked past in the hallway. It was a very unnoticeable door, and people probably thought it was for storage, or extra space.

There was a click and the door opened.

Closing the wall, Rey slowly entered the next hallway.

It connected to a string of other halls. Reaching into his pocket for the paper he had written thedirections Ezekiel had given. He stared at the cell number and block number.

**Cell 134 in Block C.**

They were in Block C already, and looking at the cell in front of them, it read 103. Rey frowned, shining the flashlight down the dark hallway. He almost felt a twinge of pity for the guards that were forced to work here. Almost.

Suzuka was unconsciously rubbing her hands together. If Athrun-sama was here, he would be going nuts. They were just feet away from rescuing the young princess.

* * *

Cagali lay in the corner of the cell like she usually did. Now that she thought about it, she spent a lot of time just sitting on the floor, refusing to lay in the cot against the wall of the cell. All the months of laying on the floor, bruised, injured...tomorrow that would be over.

_Athrun._

The only reason why she was sad, was because she would have liked to see him once more. Kiss him, hold him...tell him not to worry about her. Or at least, to tell him to find someone else that could make him even happier. Thinking of all of these things caused a tear to fall down her cheek, and she wrapped her arms around herself. It was rare that she even cried anymore.

No more suffering. No more torture.

That was something to make her happy.

Slowly closing her eyes, she smiled to herself. Sleeping was a good thing, even for her last night.

There was a noise.

Thinking it was just the guards, she shrugged it off and closed her eyes again. But they shot open when the gate to her cell opened. Two shadowed figures, one holding a flashlight, were walking towards her. A feeling of dread passed through her. Who the hell were these people?

She opened her mouth to scream as the first unknown person approached her. Cagali gasped in horror as a hand covered her mouth, blocking all potential for sound.

"It's alright, Cagali-sama." a young man's voice spoke to her, "It's okay, we're not going to hurt you."

Opening her eyes again, something even more frightening stared back at her. A pair of blue eyes that glowed in the dark...a familiar pair of eyes and a blond head of hair. The waist-length hair was bound at the base of his neck, but she could still tell it was a lot longer then when she first met him.

"Cagali-sama?" he spoke again, "It's alright now. We're here to save you."

Cagali recognized the person she was staring at.

She was staring into the eyes of Rey Za Burrel.

* * *

Woo7. Another chapter.

Arigato

Lilith


	12. Chapter 12

Here we go, chapter 12. I just got done reading a bunch of dective-mystery-murder-romance books. They are actually a lot better then reading romance novels because the main plot is not the romance, but it's still there. (if at any point I make a reference to something that may compare to one of these books, I claim no credit for it. They are just so addictive to read that I must share them with everyone. Yes, I'm insane.)

Review and tell me what you think :P

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny

* * *

She began to struggle. 

What was happening? Rey Za Burrel was supposed to be dead. She had seen the ship blow up herself, and Kira never mentioned that the blond pilot had ever been rescued by other ZAFT ships. Lunamaria and Shinn had told her he was dead. They KNEW he was dead.

Now, not only did she stare into Rey's eyes, but into the pair of eyes that were the exact same as that of Rau Le Crueze. Theman that even Kira was afraid of.

"Cagali-sama!"

She looked forward, and recognized Suzuka Kiriyuhi. Letting a sigh of relief, Rey released her.

"Kiriyuhi?" Cagali looked at her.

"We're here to bail you out." Suzuka smiled, "It's good to see you, mi'lady. Don't worry about Rey. He's a friend."

"I hate to interrupt, ladies, but we only have a five minute window." Rey said, "Cagali-san, can you stand?"

Cagali gripped the edge of the wall, before falling into Rey's outstretched arms. He scooped her up into the air.

"Hey-"

"We don't have time." he said, "Suzuka, activate the beacon."

"Already did." she smiled.

With the beacon activated, they had 5 minutes to get outside to the airfield.

* * *

Trent walked down the hallway, Hayworth on his left, Hersh on his right. The piece of paper he held earlier was crumpled in his hand now. 

"Are you certain it's him?" Hersh asked, "If this is a trick you will be punished."

"I am positive." Hayworth nodded, "Rei Minami is Rey Za Burrel, security cameras confirmed it. But sir...if he decides to fight us-"

"We have a secret weapon." Trent smiled, "The rebel forces think they can use our own weapon against us? They are mistaken, and Zala is a fool if he thinks Za Burrel gives him any edge at all."

"I don't understand, sir." Hayworth looked at him confused.

"You will soon enough." Hersh nodded.

"Is everything in position?" Trent asked.

"Yes, sir." Hayworth nodded, "Everything is exactly how you instructed."

"Good."

* * *

Kira fidgeted again. Lacus gave him a strange look. 

"Is something wrong?" she inquired.

"I have a bad feeling." he said, "A really bad feeling."

"I just got word from earth." Neuman piped in from the helm, "Captain Asuka and Commander Hawke have successfully defended the base at Carpentaria. They took on three prisoners requesting asslymn."

Murrue let out a sigh, _Athrun-sama had his hands full down there._

"Well, I guess we'll have work to do when we get back." Neo stretched out his arms and yawned. He had been pulling double shifts for a while. Murrue smiled to herself, he could always read her mind. That, or they just thought along the same lines.

She glanced about the bridge. There was a sense of nostalgia that washed threw her mind. Chandra was at his regular post, Lacus had taken the seat that Miriallia Haww normally took, and Kira was down at the other helmsman post. Neuman had agreed to come along, even though he had a fiance back on earth and their wedding day was only a month away.

"Captain." Neuman called, "Shinn-san says that Dearka Elthman and Miriallia Haww were registered with the civilians that were taken into the base during the battle."

A smile spread across her face.

"Ah, that's a name I haven't heard in a while." Neo sneered, "I miss playing poker with him and Murdock. Man, he can sure hold his liquor for someone who is almost ten years younger then me..."

This earned a displeasing look from his wife.

"What!" he gapped at her.

Murrue let out another sigh.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could tell that Kira was nervous about something. It was 6 hours ago that they had received the final orders and information from the Kamaitachi. On the front screen, she could see the familiar sight of the Eternal. Captain DaCosta had his hands full, and she did not really want to dump more work on the young captain. But, she was pretty sure that he would be pleased after this mission when she would pull the papers from her desk that held orders for a 2 month vacation for Martin.

"Any messages from the Eternal?" she asked.

"None." Lacus shook her head, "Martin will contact us soon though. Kamaitachi is on sand-by, and Cedric is ready to lend any assistance that's needed."

"Good." Murrue nodded, this was the calm before the storm.

* * *

It was only till the captain started giving orders to petty officer Aines that Meyrin realized that she had been holding her breath. Staring at the radar screen for so long was starting to make her eyes hurt, but it was important to be scanning everything constantly. 

"Miss Hawke?" DaCoasta called to her.

"Yes, sir?" she looked up.

He waved a hand at her, indicating that he wanted to speak with her. After turning to the officer next to her and instructing her to watch the sensors, Meyrin walked up to him and bent over.

"Sir?" she looked curiously at him.

"Would you like to go grab some coffee?" he asked, "I don't know about you, but I'm about ready to drop dead."

"Of course, sir." she smiled, responding a little too quickly.

Meyrin had never thought she would be so happy to see a cup of coffee in her entire life. Her captain flopped in the chair across from her in the mess hall, and took a long sip of his own cup. Although she had a little cream and sugar in hers, he was dark and pitch black.

She beamed, "This is wonderful."

"I'll say." he said, "So how are you holding up?"

"Alright." she shrugged, "Sleep would be nice, but we don't have enough time for that."

He nodded solemnly.

"So, what do you think about when you have to sit up in that chair by yourself for all those hours?" Meyrin asked him.

He was hoping she would not ask him something like that. Martin looked away a moment, a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Nothing much."

_You_...the thought to himself.

"Really?" she said, "You know what I do?"

"Oh?"

"I make up stories in my head!"

Martin gave her an odd look, "Huh?"

"Like the one I've been making up lately..." she strayed off a moment to think about the storyline, and then smiled, "...there's this heroine, and she's a well-paid bodyguard for some CEO of a big company."

"Yeah?"

"And one night, the CEO is murdered by his rival. In the middle of the incident, she managed to attack the intruder, only to knock him out. The police come, and she meets a really handsome detective..."

"Yeah?"

He continued to listen to her murder-mystery, romance story of intrigue. Truthfully, Martin did not really hear a word that she said. He was just enjoying being in the mess hall with her and listening to her. In the past years that he had been on the Eternal, it was never as interesting until she came along. Meyrin Hawke always managed to get him to smile, no matter what happend.

Suddenly, everyone jumped as the red alarm went off, calling him to the bridge and pulling him away from his thoughts.

* * *

Rey carried the young princess down the hallway, Suzuka lead the way. She checked the next hallway, to make sure the guards were gone. After sending a message to the fleet, they were going to meet at the checkpoint to get off the colony. 

"Three minutes." she whispered, _three minutes until the cameras came back on..._

"We must hurry." Rey said, "Cagali-san, are you alright?"

She nodded slightly at him.

Suzuka opened the door to the stairs, and he followed her down the flights of white steps. As they reached the ground floor, she peered out the small window in the metal door to check the parking lot. There was an extra jeep sitting in the corner.

"Come on." she said.

They ran across the parking lot, and Suzuka jumped into the driver's seat. Holding Cagali in his lap, Rey wrapped a blanket around her. She was still weak, and the trip was hard enough on her.

"How much time?" he asked.

"Two minutes." she whispered, "The copter will be waiting there now."

The drove as nonchalantly as possible threw the grounds. There were minimal guards in the area, probably because it was the night shift. It was the least patrolled time, and the only time of the day that the security cameras were down.

Stopping at the south end of the airfield. As the jeep powered down, Suzuka got up first and walked to the jeep. Knocking twice on the window, the door opened. A young officer smiled back at her,

"Captain, it's good to see you're alright."

Rey did not know the man personally, but gathering from what Suzuka was saying, he was a pilot from the Eternal.

"So, is this the princess?" he asked.

"Yes, Cagali-sama is safe. She's wounded, send a message ahead and have a medic team stand by."

There was a beep of Rey's watch. He frowned as he passed the blond princess into the aircraft. He then turned to Suzuka,

"You next." he said.

"Rey-" she smiled at him, "We did it."

He leaned over to whisper in her ear, "When we're back on the Kamaitachi, away from this hell, and continue where we left off when we were interrupted, I'll share that sentiment."

She smiled.

Turning to the helicopter, Rey went to grab Suzuka's hand to help her inside.

He was not paying attention, and did not hear the bullet as it went off.

* * *

Yzak Jule was not in a very good mood, and Shinn could tell the minute he walked off the carrier. After leaving and having to come back 7 hours later, Yzak was wishing that the attack could have happened at any time other then right at the moment. 

"Report, Asuka."

"We have the people locked in the brig, sir."

"I see." Yzak said, "I'll talk to them myself. Have a word with Hahnenfuss before you go back to the control room. Make sure that Hawke sees her too."

"Yes, sir."

Yzak walked down the hallway of the brig. He was getting too old to be running around to solve every little problem. Leaving most of the clean-up and civilian issues to Asuka, he was free to investigate these three rebels himself. Showing his ID and nodding to the gaurd, the door unlocked and he went inside.

Yzak stared at the three individuals. He sat at the table, holding three files in his hands, and he sighed.

"Long day, sir?" the girl asked him.

"You don't know the half of it." Yzak replied out loud, "Miss...Forrester?"

She nodded.

"Major Micka Forrester, Major Vladamir Alexander, and Commander Katsuya Kiriyuhi. Welcome to Carpentaria."

"Thank you, sir." Katsuya leaned forward, "Any news? Did Athrun-san-"

"Zala is not here at the moment."

"What?" Katsuya stared at him in shock.

Yzak sighed out loud once more, "I just returned from Orb. Zala is on a mission at the moment."

_He decided to play space invader_...Yzak made a face.

"Then what will happen to us?" Alex frowned.

"I can't do anything with you until Zala returns." Yzak said, "Till then, you have to sit tight here, and you will wait. Everything you need will be provided."

"What the friggen-"

"That's very helpful, thank you." Katsuya said, interrupting Alex before he said something to make the situation worse, "We will wait for Athrun-san to return."

"Good." Yzak said, "Keep quiet and stay out of the way."

"Captain..."

"Yzak. Yzak Jule."

All three stared at him in surprise. Yzak bowed slightly to them, and left the room. As he was about to leave, he felt a hand on his arm. Turning around, Katsuya Kiriyuhi stared at him in the eyes, a serious look on his face.

"Captain-" he said, quiet enough so only Yzak could hear him. His other two team mates were chatting amongst themselves, "-I was wondering if you could do a personal favor for me."

"What is it?" Yzak frowned.

"I was wondering..." Katsuya paused a moment, then gave Yzak a look of desperation, "...if you find out the status of my sister and my wife."

Yzak let out a sigh.

That was one ordeal down, and about a million more to go.

* * *

Dearka opened his eyes, staring dazed at the ceiling. After a few moments of trying to regain his bearings, he jerked awake. He found himself in a large warehouse set up to treat the wounded. He looked around desperately for Mirialla, only to find her in the white cot next to his. 

"Miriallia." he sunk to her bedside, grabbing her hand, "Mir?"

She opened her eyes, and smiled.

"Dearka." she smiled, "You're okay."

"Yeah." he nodded, "I'm glad you're alright, too."

"Yes, but what's going to happen now?"

Dearka really did not know himself. Looking up, he froze a moment as a familiar pair of blue eyes glared at him from the entrance of the building. He got up,

"I'll be right back."

Shiho stood next to Yzak, watching the bandaged form of Dearka walk towards them. It was like they were seeing a ghost. She remembered his mobile suit burst into flames in the atmosphere, and that was the last of him they had heard off.

"Dearka." she gasped.

He walked up to them, and saluted.

"Sirs." he said, "Good to see you both made it to earth alri-"

_WHACK!_

Shiho yelped, and stepped back.

Yzak had punched him right in the cheek. Dearka stumbled back slightly, catching his balance.

"If you ever disobey my orders like that again..." Yzak told him, his voice dropping an octave to a dangerous tone, "...I will kill you myself, you son of a bitch."

Dearka stared at him in a shock, and then a smile crept across his face. His best friend's face was bleach white, and he was upset. After a few moments, Yzak smiled. Dearka nodded, chuckling,and saluted to him.

"It's good to see you too, Yzak."

* * *

Suzuka shrieked as the bullet hit her in the shoulder. Rey roared, turning around in rage to see who it was that had fired. The flood lights flashed on, and he stared down the barrel of a gun held by Kojimura Trent. 

"Trent." Rey frowned.

"Ah, so you know me." Trent sneered, "Rey Za Burrel."

Rey stared at the elder man, his eyes fell on Hersh, and Hayworth as well.

It was a bad situation, one that he was not sure he could get out of.

"You've got a lot of nerve, Kiriyuhi." Hersh glared at her, "Stealing our prized weapon and running away with it."

"Don't..." she narrowed her eyes at him, holding onto her bleeding shoulder, "...don't talk about Rey like he's some object!"

"But, my dear, that's all Rey is." Trent chuckled, "A weapon. One that we created so that we could destroy all of you and the people trying to stand against us."

"I will never fight for Twilight." Rey snapped, "I would rather die."

"I'm afraid you don't have a say in the matter, boy." Hersh said.

"What?"

Trent laughed outright, "You think you're can stand against us?"

Suzuka felt Rey's arms tightened around her. He stood in front of her.

"Let them go." he said, "Take me. I don't care what happens to me...as long as Suzuka and the princess go free."

"Rey!" Suzuka yelled.

"Brave." Trent smiled, "Giving yourself up to save the girl. I bet you even think that you've fallen in love with her."

"So what if I have?" Rey answered back, "If I love her then it's none of your god damned business."

Suzuka looked up at him. _Rey..._

"Nonsense. You never had a choice." Trent walked towards them, "Come back to your original life, Rey."

The blond haired pilot took a step back, closer to Suzuka.

Rey shook his head, "No."

"Come back to your old life, an old friend of yours is waiting for your return."

_Friend?_...Rey stared at him in confusion.

"That's right, Rey." Trent said, "The _Legend_ is waiting for you."

**_Legend..._**

Rey suddenly felt his entire mind seize up, along with his nerves, and ability to breath.

"REY!" Suzuka called out.

Rey screamed, grabbing his head as he stumbled backwards into Suzuka. She grabbed him, ignoring the pain in her shoulder, trying to steady him. She was calling to him, and the last thing he heard, was her voice shrieking at him.

His eyes went blank.

"Rey?" she shook his shoulders as he went still, "Rey? Rey answer me! REY!"

There was a click that sounded horribly sickening. Like a click from a gun being loaded.

Trent smiled, "Very good. Now...kill the traitor, Rey, kill Suzuka Kiriyuhi."

Suzuka froze, looking at him in shock. The gun that Rey had kept in his jacket was now digging into her other, uninjured shoulder.

"Rey..."

He looked up at her, his eyes had turned a solid, dark blue. With a deadpan expression on his face, he pulled the trigger.

* * *

After writing online stories for a while, I have learned that cliff hangers are the best way to draw more readers to your stories. Although I really don't like tortuing people with that sort of thing, I have to admit that it makes the story ten times better. 

Chapter 13 is written and will be up within 2 days. So sit tight.

Thanks for reading, give a review and tell me what you think.

Arigato

Lilith


	13. Chapter 13

_I'm starting to get a little too wrapped up in this story. Is is strange that I like to read my own stories?_

_Hope you like it!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

Cagali starred in horror as blood speckled the window. Mustering all her strength, she leaned forward and yanked Suzuka into the helicopter. Despite her severe wounds, Suzuka gasped, reaching towards Rey. He raised his gun, going in for another shot. 

"REY!" she called.

Suzuka fell to the floor of the helicopter with a loud thunk. Cagali fell against the wall,

"Get us the hell out of here!"

"Yes, mi'lady!" the pilot lifted off the ground, somehow missing the bullets fired from Za Burrel.

* * *

"Deploy the mobile suits!" Hayworth ordered, "Don't let that helicopter leave PLANT!" 

Rey watched the craft raise higher and higher into the air. He felt nothing as Trent lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Good work, my boy."

"Thank you, sir." Rey replied.

"It's good to have you back." Doctor Hersh smiled to the blond Coordinator, "You caused a lot of trouble for us, young man."

"My apologies." Rey bowed slightly. It was then that he noticed that there was blood speckled on his uniform. Touching it, he stared transfixed. It was the young girl's blood...the blood of the girl that he had just shot. At the moment, he did not know why he had done it, only that Trent ordered him and he felt obligated to do it.

_Who was she?_

She screamed for him when the copter lifted away. There was a look of desperation on her face. Even though he could have killed her there, there was something that was unconsciously holding him back.

"Rey?" Trent look at him curiously, "Is something wrong? Are you injured?"

"Pardon?" he looked up from the blood on his hands, "No sir, why?"

Both elder men exchanged looks.

"Rey..." Trent frowned, almost a glower in his eyes, "...you're crying."

Rey touched his face, feeling the wet tears pouring down his face. Looking at his hand once more, the blood and tears mixed together on his fingers. Staring confused a moment, he gritted his teeth and turned away from his superiors. Rubbing his sleeve over his face, he headed towards his quarters.

Chairman Trent exchanged looks with Doctor Hersh.

"Examine him." Trent murmured, "Make sure they didn't do anything to him."

"Aye sir."

* * *

It was that girl. She had done something to him. Rey did not know what it was, but once he put on a clean uniform and forgot about her, he would be okay. 

Ignoring everyone on the way, he marched up to his quarters and instantly pulled off his jacket, tossing it to the floor like it was diseased. Pulling the door to his bathroom open, he scrubbed his face. He had to get the blood off, all of it.

Her face would not leave his mind.

Moving to the closet, he angrily tore out another jacket and put it on. As he turned, he stopped.

There was a hair ribbon laying on the bed of rumpled sheets.

There was something very wrong with this.

Picking up the ribbon, he gritted his teeth. Stuffing the ribbon in his pocket he turned towards the door. He would have to kill her first chance that he got. It would be the only way to rid her from his thoughts.

* * *

The pilot let out a loud curse as they raced towards the exit of the colony. 

"We're not going to make it!" he yelled.

"We'll make it!" Cagali yelled, pulling Suzuka into her lap. Grabbing the end of her sleeve with her teeth, she ripped it off. Tying the material around Suzuka's shoulders. If Cagali did not do something fast, the young girl would loose to much blood and go into shock.

From the look in her green eyes, the red-haired girl was already in shock. She had not spoken a word since she fell to the floor.

There was a rumble as the mobile suits began to fire on them.

"How many are there?" Cagali called, glancing out of the window.

"Six, mi'lady." he said.

Cagali frowned, looking down at Suzuka one more time.

She'll be damned if they die in a place like this.

* * *

"We're receiving word from the colony!" the helmsman called out as Martin and Meyrin entered the bridge. 

"Put it on screen!" DaCosta sat in his chair.

It was Sargent Mill, the one that had been sent to PLANT to pick up the princess, Rey Za Burrel, and Captain Kiriyuhi.

"Captain!" he called out, "We have trouble, sir!"

"What's going on?"

"Six Zakus are after us-" he yelped as the craft shook from another blast, "We won't make it without help!"

"Damn..." he cursed, "Miss Hawke! Order the sortie of our first mobile suit sqa-"

"Captain!" Meyrin interrupted him, "There is a heat signature approaching us from due west!"

"What?" DaCoasta gasped, "A battleship?"

* * *

"A battleship is approaching us!" Lacus called out, "Captain La Flaga, its the Kusangai!" 

The large Orb battleship came towards them. A maroon colored blur shot past the Archangel and the Eternal. Murrue stared at it intently, it seemed so familiar looking.

"We're being hailed." Lacus told them, "Captain...it's the Infinite Justice."

"Athrun-kun?" Murre frowned, "Put it on."

Athrun stared at them all.

"Sorry for the intrusion." Athrun replied, "I was hoping I could get here in time."

Murrue stared at him, and then sighed. Somehow, it did not surprise her at all that he was in space, blowing off all his official duties.

"You startled us, sir."

"Sorry." he chuckled, sheepishly.

* * *

"The Justice." Meyrin turned to the Eternal captain, "It's Athrun-san!" 

Martin could not help but smile as he watched the Justice disappear in the direction of the colony.

"Call Sargent Mill. Tell him help is on the way."

The helicopter shook again. At this rate, they would not even make it to the shuttle launch area. Cagali looked around, trying to assess the situation. She could not think of a way out. Za Burrel was no longer there to offer assistance, and she was in no condition to take command of the helicopter. Mill was trying his best, but she knew it was not enough.

The whole aircraft shook as something blew past them. There was an explosion as one of the Zaku's were destroyed.

"What the-" Mill turned to see what it was.

As the smoke cleared, Cagali could not help but grin as the Justice shot towards them.

"Athrun..."

The gundam flew next to them.

"Sargent." Athrun's calm voice came over the link, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yes, sir!" the pilot smiled, answering happily.

"I'll protect the route." he spoke, "Don't worry about the Zakus. Just get my wife out of here."

"Aye, sir."

Cagali smiled to herself, feeling her head spin again. Closing her eyes, she passed out against the seat of the helicopter. Suzuka stared at the ceiling of the cockpit, her own eyes slid shut.

A lone tear escaped from the corner of right eye.

* * *

"Katsuya Kiriyuhi." the guard called. 

Katsuya looked up from the table. Micka had fallen asleep on the floor, using Alex's coat for the pillow. Alex sat on the windowsill, staring lazily out the window.

"This sucks." he said, "I'm friggen' bored."

"Live with it." Katsuya stood up, "Behave till I come back, and watch Micka."

"Aye aye, skipper."

Katsuya gave him an exasperated look as he walked out of the brig. Following the guards down the hallway, he found himself wondering what kind of plans were waiting for them. Soon, they would be hunted by Twilight. As long as he was alive, he was going to protect his team mates with his life...but that was not what he was worried about.

He did not leave Twilight to spend the rest of his life in a cell.

Knocking on the door, there was a voice that called him in. Katsuya walked into the office to find Yzak Jule sitting at the desk, flanked by Lunamaria and Shinn. Shiho sat next to Yzak, looking at the files in her hands.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Kiriyuhi." Yzak said, "I hope you're accommodations have been suiting you so far."

"Well enough, sir."

"This is Captain Shinn Asuka, the commander of this base, and Commander Lunamaria Hawke."

"Captain Asuka-" Katsuya glanced at him, "You run this base well."

"Thank you." Shinn nodded slightly.

"I beg your pardon, sirs..." Katsuya frowned, "...what do you intend to do with us?"

Yzak rubbed his forehead. He needed a vacation badly. But with this attack, Athrun Zala's little surprise trip to space, and the three defectors to deal with he was swamped.

"Athrun Zala is in space at the moment. We sent a message to him, but we have not received a reply yet." Lunamaria said, tired of waiting for the two other men to sort threw their thoughts.

"I see."

"But not to worry." she smiled, "We'll take good care of you."

He nodded.

"There is another piece of news." Yzak said, "One concerning your requests."

Katsuya was interested now, "Yes?"

"June Van-hild Romenheim." Lunamaria read off the roster, "She's an elite pilot on the Kamaitachi. It's currently on a mission but is due to return a day from now. Last checked, she was doing alright health wise." Luna smiled.

Katsuya frowned, "What about Suzuka?"

There was a nervous silence in the room.

"We've just received word on Captain Kiriyuhi's condition." Yzak frowned, "Katsuya-san, there's something you need to know..."

* * *

The moment Cagali docked at the Eternal, she was surprised when Meyrin Hawke's arms flew around her. 

"Cagali-san!" she was outright in tears, "Cagali-san! You're back!"

The moment they reached the Eternal, Cagali pulled herself up off the bench that she had been resting on. The hatch opened and the medics started working on Suzuka first per Cagali's request.

"Mi'lady-" Mill began, reaching to help her.

"I can do it myself!" she snapped, hauling herself towards the opening of the shuttle.

The Justice had just landed in the launch bay, and the docking doors closed. Cagali stared at the large mobile suit, waiting for the cockpit door to open.

* * *

Athrun tore the seatbelt off himself, tossed the flight helmet into the cockpit, and could barely wait for the door to open. He rushed out, standing on the edge, and stared at the long, blond-haired, young woman. Her clothes were ripped and toren, covered with faint tints of blood from old wounds, and dirt. 

_Oh god, there she was._

She looked so different from a year ago. But she was still Cagali.

She was crying now, looking back at him and trying hard not to break down, despite the broad grin on her face. He found himself rubbing a sleeve on the right side of his face to try and hide the fact that he was crying too.

"Athrun!" she called, pushing herself off the shuttle. She glided threw thelow gravityenvironment, heading towards him. Leaping off the edge of the cockpit, he headed towards her.

They stopped a foot away from each other.

Her hair swirled around her face as she floated in the air across from him. Athrun simply stared at her.

"Cagali..." he whispered, not daring himself to speak, "Long time no see."

"Hey." she sniffed.

They resumed staring at one another. He then smiled, reaching into his flight suit, he pulled out his dog tags. Sitting on the chain were both of Cagali's wedding rings.

"Welcome back, love. I've missed you." he beamed at her.

She then grinned. Leaning forward, her arms flew around his chest. At the moment, neither of them cared that half the ship was watching them. Athrun laid his hands gently on her face, tilted her head back, and kissed her. Cagali did not know where she found the extra energy, but she kissed him back, sinking into his arms.

She let him taste the inside of her lips, combing her hands threw his soft hair. One of his hands slid down her shoulder and around her waist. It was too late to realize that everyone else was cheering and whistling at them. Finally pulling away from each other, Cagali blushed, turning her head away from the crowd, and burst out laughing into his shoulder. Athrun smiled and could not help but laugh himself.

"God, I missed you." he whispered, looking down at her, "What the hell is wrong with you? Leaving me like that..."

Athrun was glarring at her now, expecting some sort of rational explination. In a shallow, quiet voice, loud enough that only he could hear, she told him,

"I intend to pay you back for it later, space boy." pulling him by the collar so she could whisper in his ear, "With interest..."

His cheeks promptly turned so red that they matched his mobile suit. He was glad that he was not facing everyone else either. It would have been beyond embarrassing if everyone saw their chief commander of Orb blushing like a high school boy.

"Okay, okay, shows over." Martin smiled, hording all the extra personal out of the bay. He frowned at the shuttle, where the medical team had already carted off Suzuka. Looking back up at his two superiors, he said, "I'm sorry to break this up, sirs, but last time I checked Cagali-sama needed medical attention."

"I'll see to it." Athrun told him, scooping her up in his arms, ignoring a sound of protest from her, "I'll be on the bridge shortly."

_Sure you will_..."Yes sir." Martin chuckled.

* * *

Athrun sat in the medical room, holding a coffee in his hands, staring grimly at the floor. Cagali had just told him everything that had happened on the base. 

"This is not good news." he said.

"No." she said, "I am also afraid of how Kiriyuhi may end up dealing with it. I'm pretty sure she loves him."

A few beds over, Suzuka lay bandaged, sedated, and asleep. There was a machine bleeping in the background.

"They've worked together for a while now." Athrun said, "He's a damn good officer."

"We owe him, Athrun."

He sighed, rubbing his head. A soft hand rest on his face. Looking up at her, she smiled that same pretty smile that he remembered. If it were any other situation, he would have scooped her up and hauled her off to his quarters and spent the rest of the trip making up for lost time. There was a whole year they had missed together, but all Athrun really cared about was having her back.

"You look like shit, Athrun."

He laughed at her. _God, he had missed her._

"Why don't you take a break? Once I get better, I can take care of everything for a while." she said, "We'll go back to Orb, and once all this business is over with, we'll go on a three month vacation together."

"Where?"

A smirk spread across her face, "I was thinking...of this little island in the middle of the ocean. I discovered it a while ago when a certain ZAFT pilot shot my plane down."

Athrun could not disagree with that. Three months laying on the beach with no one except his young wife did not bother him at all.

There was a groan.

Both of them instantly perked up, looking at Suzuka. Lifting one of her arms, it rest on her face, and she rubbed her eyes. Athrun stood up, and Cagali watched him walk over to her.

"Captain?" he looked at her.

Her eyes opened and she stared at Athrun.

"Sir?" she said, "Where am I? I remember..." her voice cracked a moment, "...where's Rey?"

Athrun was silent, looking over at Cagali. The blond woman looked away, her hands knotting up in the bedsheets.

"Suzuka." he spoke to her, "I'm sorry, but Rey's not here."

"What do you mean he's not here?" she bellowed, "If Twilight captures him, you know what they'll do! I will not sit here while they turn him into some science experiment!"

Athrun looked away.

"Tell me where he is, damn it!"

"Suzuka, he's not coming back."

She stared at him a few more moments, rolling on her side painfully, and sobbed into the pillow.

* * *

_Part of me was not all that satisfied with this chapter, it could have been better. But I guess it passes for now. If anyone is wondering, there will probably be about 20 or 21 chapters in Part 2. Hopefully, I'll be able to start Part 3 right as school starts. If I'm still trying to finish the story then it'll be too busy._

_I hope you liked it, please send a review and tell me what you think!_

_Arigato_

_Lilith_


	14. Chapter 14

_Guess what? I finally got my internet card to work. Is that cool or what?_

_This means updates more often, which I think everyone will appreciate. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter :D_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

She slept most of the time. After a while, it was obvious that she really did not pay attention when people spoke to her, unless she wanted to. She would listen to Cagali, Athrun most of the time, and received a call from Cedric Helms once to brief her on the status of the ship. Meyrin brought her some other clothes so she did not have to sleep in the hospital dress all the time.

But, essentially, she did not really care what people had to say.

It was a few days before Suzuka even spoke, and that was only to her first officer. She ventured out of the infirmary, and disappeared into one of the offices to speak to her crew. Except for that, she spent the rest of the time simply laying in bed. When they finally landed back on earth, Cagali stood in the doorway of the room, staring at her. Cagali was never one to lay around.

"Suzuka?"

Suzuka's eyes strayed over to her, and Cagali sat next to her bed.

"Your ship is waiting." the blond woman sighed, "Once you are well, you are to report back."

"Cagali-sama-"

"Don't second guess me, Kiriyuhi." Cagali frowned, "All you've been doing is moping around the ship. Get up and get on with your life."

Suzuka sat up, glaring at her. How could she say something like that?

"You don't understand-"

"_I_ don't understand?" Cagali narrowed her eyes, "At least he's not your husband."

Suzuka closed her mouth.

"I'm sorry. I'll report back to my ship."

"Good." she said, standing, "Take it easy, Captain. Soon, there's going to be a war for us to fight, and I need you to help me. You're one of the most valuable captains I have."

"Thank you, mi'lady."

Cagali then gave her a reassuring smile.

"Hang in there." she said, "We're not prepared to give Rey up without a fight yet. Athrun and I owe him a debt for saving me, and we owe you too."

Suzuka smiled back at her, and nodded.

* * *

Cedric marched down the hallway of Orb. He was in a bad mood. A REALLY bad mood. Not only was Suzuka wounded, but Rey was the one that shot her. There were mixed feelings on the ship. It ranged from crying, to shock, to threats of dismemberment of Rey. Having to deal with that damage control, he also had to attend a meeting with the other Eternity captains that morning before going to visit Suzuka. 

He hated this.

Walking towards the doorway of the conference hall, he stopped. Dragging a hand through his hair quickly, he tucked the files under his other arm, took a deep breath, and opened the door. The other captains were already in there waiting for him.

"Excuse my lateness." Cedric said, "There was an emergancy, and Captain Kiriyuhi could not attend."

"I heard that she was wounded on a mission." Ralphael Burbanks, captain of the Boluxei, said. Captain Burbanks was from England, and had a very thick accent. He had gone threw the same classes as Suzuka, and on her off days, they would occasionally play a game of pool together. He was a pale looking man, with shoulder length brown hair that he tied at the base of his neck with a black ribbon. It was very stereotypical, but it suited him.

"Will she be alright?" the big man to his right asked. Hans Grienrich was the captain of the Strathmore, and he was known for being ruthless. Although he was very well known among the ranks as being a very nice man, he had no qualms about using whatever means to take down an enemy.

"She is recovering from gunshot wounds, but she will be fine."

Fine was a very generous term. Cedric knew as well as everyone else that knew Suzuka, did not believe for a second that she would be fine. Cedric found himself suddenly depressed. He had promised to shoot Rey out of a missile tube if something happened to Suzuka. Next time he saw the blond haired Coordinator, he was going to do just that.

"That's good." a woman spoke.

Cedric froze at the soft voice from across the table. Till that moment, he had tried his best to ignore the fourth captain. She was ellegant and graceful. Everything about her reminded him of happier times, and then of the saddest times in his life.

"Indeed." he spoke, taking a chance by looking at her. Frigg Meyers nodded at him as he sat down. The other two captains fell silent. It was common knowledge that Cedric was in line for command for the next Eternity battleship, and that he was supposed to marry Frigg.

The woman was tall, but still shorter then Cedric. She had waist length, straight, jet black hair. It was always down, and fell around her shoulders like a black cape. She had brown eyes, and her overall complection was snow white. One would have thought she was a ghost.

"Well, I for one don't mind you being here at all, Commander Helms." Ralpheal grinned, "It's been a while, old friend."

"It has." he glanced at the Boluxei captain.

"Played any good poker lately?"

"Not lately, sir."

"How 'bout a game later, hm?"

"Sure thing."

Ralpheal seemed content with himself. It was not a very ellaborate answer, but enough to satisfy him. Sitting the stack of papers and files on the table, Cedric let out a sigh and tried not to look at Frigg. He knew she was staring at him, but did not want to acknowledge that he knew.

The door opened and Athrun walked in.

"Athrun-sama." Hans stood, along with everyone else, "Welcome back."

"Good evening everyone." he said, "Cagali wishes to extend her greetings to everyone. She is on rest right now, and will not return to active duty till next week."

"That's wonderful." Ralpheal smiled, "I've missed Cagali-sama."

Athrun could not help but smile, and motioned for everyone to sit.

"Thank you for taking Captian Kiriyuhi's place, Commander."

Looking over at Frigg, she was still staring at him. He suddenly had the feeling that today was going to get even worse.

"No problem, sir."

* * *

Katsuya did not care what he had to do at this point. He did not care if he had to suck up to every offical on the base, he was going to go see his sister. Then again, it still surprised him when Yzak Jule horded him and his two team mates into the helicopter and told them that they were needed in Orb. 

Apparently, Cagali herself had granted them pardon. All that was left was trying to prove themselves in the eyes of Athrun and Cagali that they were trustworthy enough to fight.

But that was not on the list of his worries right now.

"What is her condition?"

"She's stable." Shiho told him, "Both of her injuires have already begun healing. The doctor told me that she'll be released very soon."

Katsuya could not help but be nervous. Alex glanced at him, whispering under his breath,

"It's okay, Katsu, she's alive."

"That's not the point." the red-haired man glared at him, "It's all my fault that everything ended the way that it did."

"It's not your fault and you know it." Micka turned to them both, "You know that, sir."

He knew it, but deep down, he still felt responsible.

The moment the aircraft landed, he jumped out. Yzak held up a hand, letting him pass by the gaurds. Ignoring all the strange looks, Katsuya ran across the airfeild and towards the main complex. Commander Jule had given him directions to the infirmary.

Suzuka sat in bed, staring out of the window. There was a blank look on her face. She had not smiled since Rey had-

"Captain?"

She turned to see her first officer in the hallway. Cedric always came to visit her.

"How was the meeting?" she asked.

"Alright." he walked towards her, setting the reports on the table.

"Thank you for doing that." she said, "I know it was hard."

"Don't worry about it." he said.

Suzuka glanced at him, she knew that he was disturbed about something, and her guess was that Frigg was part of it. He had an unfocuses, glazed over look in his eyes that he only got when it involved the Trinity captain. Sitting in the chair next to her bed, Cedric looked up at the young captain.

"About Za Burrel-"

"I don't want to hear it." she said, "I can't stand hearing people apologizing to me. I'm sick of it. I don't want to hear his name anymore."

He fell silent. It was rare that she ever spoke with that tone to anyone.

There was a loud noise down the hallway. It was then that he realized that Suzuka looked paler then ususal. The noise stopped, and she was staring wide-eyed at the doorway. Cedric frowned and turned to see what was alarming her so much.

The young man at the doorway wore a ZAFT red elite uniform, and he looked exactly like Suzuka. So much so, that he could have been her twin. Staring at Suzuka, he gritted his teeth.

"Suzu."

Yanking the covers off herself viciously, Suzuka tore out of bed, stumbling across the room on unsteady legs.

"NIISSAN!"

Throwing her arms around him, she promptly broke down in his chest. She had not even cried in such a manner in front of Athrun. His back sunk to the floor, and he pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly as she sobbed.

"I'm so sorry." he said.

"Who the hell are you?"

He glared up at the man that was giving him the same dirty look. Cedric folded his arms, and then jumped as another pair of blue eyes narrowed at him from the hallway. Yzak Jule stared at the whole scene, a look of annoyence on his face.

"Sir." Cedric promptly saluted.

"It's alright, Helms. This man has diplomatic asslymn here."

"Yes, sir."

"You may leave now. I need to speak to these two alone."

"Yes, sir."

Cedric left, and the door closed behind him. He stared confused at the door a moment, contemplated standing gaurd outside the door, and then decided against it. Proceeding to walk down the hallway, he caught sight of someone outside the hospital window. Frigg was standing in the courtyard alone.

Making his way down the stairs, his legs were moving on their own free will. He found himself opening the door to the garden. She stared at him a moment, and then resumed her look at the sky.

"I hope you have been well." she finally said.

"Well enough."

She stood up, and looked at him sideways.

"Well, good night, Commander Helms."

"WAIT!"

She stopped in her tracks, and looked towards him. Cedric walked towards her.

"You can't leave."

"The hell I can't."

"Not until you give me an appropriate reason."

Frigg gritted her teeth, "I don't have time for this."

"I have time."

"Why is it that the universe must run on a_man's _calendar? If I don't have time, I don't have time to talk to you."

She went to leave and he grabbed her arm, furiously yanking her into his arms.

"You owe it to me, Frigg."

"I owe you nothing, Cedric."

"Did you lie to me?" he asked, "When you said you loved me...was that a lie?"

Her eyes fell to the ground, "...no..."

"Then why the hell won't you marry me?" he yelled, shaking her shoulders.

"You wouldn't understand."

He was tired, mentally drained, and now in a very bad mood. This was the last thing on his list that he wanted to deal with right now. Cedric never really understood this girl, and whatever was on her mind, he was sure that probably would never understand it.

"God damn it..." he cursed.

He dragged her forward, pressing his lips to hers. Her eyes grew wide in shock, and for a moment, she squirmed in his arms trying to get free. But he held her, not letting her move at all. After a few moments, she fell limp. Her arms circled around his neck, and she kissed him back. He felt her taste the inside of his mouth, and slowly he stumbled backwards into the stonewall.

"Frigg-"

She pressed the entire length of her body against his, her hands smoothing over his face. Brushing his hair from his face, she kissed his cheek, touching her lips to his blind eye. Pulling her head back, he trailed his mouth down her neck, feeling her hands grip onto the front of his uniform.

"Marry me."

"No." she breathed into his face.

"Why not?"

She looked away from him, not saying anything.

He had enough of this.

She yelped as he turned around, dragging her across the lawn. It was too late to realize what was going on until he shoved her into his car, and they disappeared down the street.

* * *

"...I see." Katsuya murmured, after Yzak Jule told him the whole story. 

Suzuka had fallen asleep on his lap. His little sister had made a pretty good life for herself. Honestly, it did not really surprise him because he knew from that beginning that she was more skilled then he was. Her grades had always been higher, and she had always taken more responsibilities. Because he was the eldest son, their parents had always put an emphasis on Katsuya taking over the family eventually. Being ignored most of the time, Suzuka had taken it upon herself to be better then he was. Which was something that Katsuya did not disagree with. If anyone was going to be better at him in something, the only person he could stomach was his little sister.

However, that did not mean that her life had been any easier.

"Rey Za Burrel." Yzak tapped his pen on the table where he sat, "Is a valuable officer in the Eternity army, plus the fact that he was also part of the mission to rescue Cagali. Orb will do anything it can to rescue him however..."

"That doesn't make it any easier for Suzu." Katsuya sighed, running his fingers threw her hair, "The fact still remains that Za Burrel should be the one with her right now, when the horrible truth is that he's the one that put her in the hospital."

Yzak nodded in acknowledgement.

"Captain Jule-" Katsuya looked up at him, "-when can my team mates and I take assignments in Eternity?"

"Well..." Yzak sighed, "...Zala and his wife seem to trust you three well enough. Out of my past experiences, if I was the one in charge, I would lock you up in the brig and not let you roam free till the war was over."

Katsuya could really not disagree with this. When a solider defected from his original assignment, there was nothing stopping him from doing it again.

"So then what's going to happen?"

"I'll leave it up to Zala. He wants you three at HQ tommorrow." Yzak stretched his arms, yawning, "But frankly, right now, I don't really care because it's too damn late."

Katsuya smiled, shaking his head.

"If you want to stay here with her, I'll arrange it with the staff." Yzak said, "If you need anything, ask. But I'll have you know, I'll post gaurds in the hall."

"Fine by me, sir."

"Good, good."

Yzak walked out of the room, saluting back after Katsuya did the same. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he felt slightly irritable. After not eating, sleeping, and working non-stop for 3 days, he was basically off till tommorrow afternoon. Picking up his cell from his jacket, he flipped it open, dailing a familiar number on the list.

"Hahnenfuss."

"Shiho." Yzak smiled, "Where are you?"

He could almost hear her smile over the phone.

"I just got cleaned up after training practice." she said.

"Meet me outside."

"Kay."

Closing the phone, he pushed open the doors. Tonight would not be so bad after all.

* * *

_Another update soon!_

_Arigato_

_Lilith_


	15. Chapter 15

_I'm having a lot of fun writing this story. It's one of the few sources of amusement I get. _

_If anyone has any constructive suggestions to make, I am curious if anyone has ideas of what I can add to make the story better. Good comments. ('please add more -enter person or persons here-' does not count unless there is a REALLY good reason) I'm starting to get stuck on how to add to the story. Thanks for all the help :D_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

Cedric stood at the windowsill of his apartment, leaning on the wooden window pane. His hair stuck in every direction. Glancing backwards, he let out a sigh. 

She lay in bed, asleep. Her long black hair spread out around her like black water. The sheets were tangled around her, and he was arguing with the idea of trying to wake her up. Then turning back to the window, he stared at the morning sky again.

"Cedric?"

Apparently, she took it upon herself to answer the question for him.

She sat up, the sheets sliding off her pale skin to her waist. Her hair fell over her shoulders. Staring at his muscular back, she let out a sigh herself. He was better looking then any other man she had ever known. His back was well toned, and the pair of jeans he wore hung nicely on his waist. It was obvious that he worked out regularly, but that did not really surprise her. Cedric had always been atheletic, and he was in the military.

She was still so much in love with him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken you back here." he said, "It was a stupid thing to do."

"No, it's o...um..." she stopped a moment, and then looked at the floor again.

Leaving the safetly of the windowsill, he headed towards the door.

"I'll leave so you can get dressed. Come down when you're ready, there'll be coff-"

He cried out as she grabbed one of his arms and tore him down onto the bed next to her. Staring down at him, there were tears in her eyes.

"I was afraid."

Cedric narrowed his eyes at her.

"I was afraid that we would get married and I would turn out to be different then what you wanted, or I wouldn't be good enough, or even worse...die on the battlefeild and-"

He stared up at her as she rambled on. Then, to her shock, he started to laugh. Wrapping his arms around himself, he rolled on his side, pressing his face into the disarray of sheets. Frigg stared at him confused,

"Cedric..."

He was pretty sure that he looked ridiculous. Frigg stared at him like there was a horn growing out of his forehead as his laughing started to subside.

"Frigg..." he grinned at her, "..._THAT'S_ what was worrying you?"

He gently lay a hand on her face, a big grin on his lips, "Listen...there is nothing you could do to ever get me to stop loving you."

Her eyes lite up.

"I like your unpredictabiliy. It helps balance the fact that I'm a complete stick." he said, "I like that wild nature about you."

She rubbed her eyes, "You're not a stick."

"Yes, I am."

"Okay, you are."

She was laughing now with him. Part of her still wanted to jump out of the room, but she wanted to be here with him. Spend the rest of her life waking up with him next to her, making her breakfest, driving her to work...it was what she wanted.

"Cedric?"

"Yes?"

Frigg leaned over him, smoothing her hands over his face. His blind right eye stared blankly at her, if she covered the left side of his face he would not be able to see her at all. One would never notice it at first glance, but it was still there.

"Will you marry me?" she asked.

A large smirk spread across his face, "Yeah, I suppose."

She burst out laughing, touching her lips to his chest as he laughed himself. Hearinghis beating heart under her ear.

"I'm glad." she grinned, feeling his hand running threw her black hair, "I was afraid you'd say no."

He laughed again.

* * *

Katsuya rose early that morning, found his assigned quarters after checking on Suzuka, and met up with his team mates. 

"So how is she?" Alex asked.

"Hm?"

"Your sis." he said, "I heard your sister was wounded in battle."

Katsuya frowned, "She will live."

"That's good."

Looking at Micka, Katsuya did not really want to think about Suzuka's situation any more for the moment, "What's on the agenda, Micka?"

"Athrun-san called us in for conference." she said.

"Must be m'portant." Alex shrugged, folding his arms behind his head as they walked down the hallway, a gaurd following them. There was always an armed gaurd with them. Katsuya knew it was procedure, but it still made him uneasy.

It was a large room, but he still felt slightly claustraphobic in it. Sitting in the chair, he stared across the large table at Athrun and Cagali. Both of the world leaders had a tired expression on their faces, but it was not something that could be helped.

"So." Cagali leaned back in the chair, "What do you three plan to do now?"

Katsuya looked at them, Alex shrugged and Micka let out an irritated sigh.

"Whatever you wish of us, excelency." he said, "We are rouges to our own people. If we return, we will most likely be put in front of the firing squad. For this, we are willing to offer our skills in any way that may help."

Athrun and Cagali exchanged looks.

"Are you willing to fly under command of an Eternity ship, Katsuya-san?" Cagali asked.

"Yes."

"Then we require your skills."

Katsuya felt a smirk tugging at the end of his lips. Cagali was very straight forward, more so then Athrun was. If he was not already hopelessly in love with his own wife, and if she had not already been married to one of the most deadliest ZAFT soliders in history, he could of had a thing with this blond warrior woman. It was probably because she reminded him of June in so many ways.

"Your papers are processing right now. You willl have new uniforms, and we will give you a temporary assignment." she said, "That Kamaitachi will require three advanced pilots to train their new intern elites now that...Za Burrel is not here."

"Understood."

"Good." Athrun cut in, "You will pick up your new uniforms, and report to the Kamaitachi this evening. Commander Helms wants you all to become familiar with the ship."

Handing out files, Athrun and Cagali stood up with the rest of them. It was Alex's turn to say the thing that was on everyone's minds. It was a talent of his.

"Do we still have to have that shadow following us?"

Cagali snorted, it sounded somewhat like a laugh. Athrun made a face at her that seemed to say, '_no_ _matter how old you get you still act like a giggling teenager'_.

"We'll trust you." Athrun leaned forward, "But if I hear of ANYTHING suspicious, I'll have you all transferred to Captain Jule's command."

All three of them were well aware of that threat.

Alex let out a whoop as they exited the building, making the other two jump in surprise.

"Damn it, Alex!" Katsuya laid a hand on his chest, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"We did it, Katsu." he said, "We managed to get out of Twilight, kick ass, and not get executed for treason along the way!"

"I don't find that conforting." Micka replied, walking ahead of them as she peered over the file in her hands.

"Come on, this calls for celebration. Drinks, no?"

"God...what's with you and the drinking?" Katsuya glarred at him.

"Well, excuse me." he folded his arms, "So where the heck is this Kamaitachi ship, anyway?"

* * *

Cedric walked threw the port-side enterance hatch. Frigg trailed behind him, looking around the ship. 

"It's been a while." she said, "Great ship."

He smiled, "I'll tell the captain when she comes back."

There were repairs and updates being processed throughout the ship. They waded threw the hallways, being careful of thel adders in the hallway and wires hanging from the ceiling. Tess stood in the hallway, a clipboard in her hands as she was directing traffic and repairs.

"Tess." Cedric walked up to her.

"Commander." she smiled, "Welcome back. Captain Meyers." she saluted the captain, who held up a hand to put her at ease.

"How is everything going?" he asked.

"A-okay." she said, "We'll be done on time. I wouldn't go to the bridge just yet, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Ezekiel has been up three days in a row, and the only place he gets rest in is in the bridge, it seems. If he tries to sleep in the lounge or his own room, someone finds him and tries to give him more work."

"Poor kid." Cedric rubbed his head.

"Vana locked the door. She'll probably let you in, though." Tess said.

"Thanks." he said, "Carry on."

"Yes sir."

They headed towards the bridge. Frigg followed him down the halls, noticing that the ship was in top condition. Suzuka drove a stress on hard work on her ship. Standing in front of the bridge door, Cedric spoke into the intercom.

"_Welcome back to the ship, sirs_." Vana addressed them both.

"Vana." he replied, "I need a quick word with Ezekiel."

There was an irratated huff over the com, he laughed,

"Don't worry, it's not to give him more work."

"_Oh? Then that's okay_." shespoke happily, opening the bridge doors for them.

The bridge was dead quiet, except the noises from the computers, and Virigl Brookes who sat at his station. He was running diagnostic routines of the main systems. Frigg stopped to greet him and Cedric strolled down to the young man who lay sprawled out on the floor buried in papers, charts, books, and his laptop. There was a flight chart laying over his face, and his laptop sat on his chest. A pair of headphones where hooked up to his ears that connected to the music player that was in his shirt pocket. He had stripped off his uniform jacket, and folded it under his head for a pillow.

"Marks?" he called.

Nothing.

Cedric made a face, Ezekiel had basically taken over the bridge to fix the main computer and chart more flightroutes. From the few feet away that Cedric was, he could hear the acid metal blaring out of Ezekiel's headphones, and wondered how the kid could still hear. Kneeling on the floor, he took out one of the earphones,

"Mr. Marks?"

Ezekiel waved a hand in the air without looking, "Whatever it is, bugger off. I already fixed the damn computer."

"Mr. Marks, wake up."

"I told you, I already went threw the subroutines. I'm sorry, but things can't function higher then 100 percent. That would go against the laws of physics..."

"Ezekiel."

Pushing the chart of his face, he looked up at Cedric.

"Mornin', sir." Ezekiel yawned, "Sorry about that. Damn techs won't leave me alone."

"I've heard. Why don't you go home for the day? I've got some people comming later that will take over your work for while."

"But-"

"They'll do fine."

"But, Vana-"

"_EZEKIEL, GO HOME AND SLEEP_!" a voice roared over the com. He sat up with a start.

"Yes ma'am!" he saluted. The realizing what he was doing, and let out a groan, "Vana..."

Frigg was laughing, watching the whole scene. "Is it always like this?"

Virgil chuckled, nodding his head.

* * *

Katsuya walked up the ramp towards the ship. It had been a couple of hours since they had returned to their quarters, recieved new uniforms and orders, and departed for the night shift on the Kamaitachi. All three of them had sepparate duties. 

Micka was working at the main control tower for the moment, checking over the Kamaitachi's status, the crew status, and taking over some of the tech duties. Alex had already disappeared somewhere between the ship and the control tower, he was on maintaince duty. It was something that he would have fun doing, Katsuya thought. Alex was a hands-on sort of person, and needed to get greesy and dirty before feeling satisfied with himself. Fixing the ship and a couple of mobile suits would solve that problem.

Katsuya, however, was assigned to be working directly with the Commander. Until Suzuka's return the next day, he was going to be doing some of her duties. It still made him uneasy that Cagali and Athrun trusted him enough to give him so much authority, but he was not complaining.

A tall man stood at the top of the loading ramp. He was taller then Katsuya was, with brown hair that had grown longer over the right side of his face. The way that he walked and stood, said that he was in good shape, strong, but fast. Most likely, he was involved in some sort of sport. Martial Arts, fencing, or some sort of sword practice. Judging by his uniform, and his un-impressed expression, he was the Commander Cedric Helms that Katsuya was looking for.

"Sir." Katsuya saluted him.

"Welcome aboard, Mr. Kiriyuhi. I have to say, this is an interesting situation for me."

Suzuka had told him that Cedric had somewhat been a big brother to her since she had began working for Orb. He was thankful to this brown-haired man for this.

"It is, sir."

* * *

Sitting in the conference room, bored and tired, Rey tried to keep his attention focused on Hayworth, who was going over duties for the day. He tapping his pencil silently on the tabletop. 

After the fiasco on the airfeild, the Captain of the base had been transferred to another location, and Hayworth was now the offical captain. He had been premoted, despite the fact that the Orb princess was stolen from under his nose, and given more power. Rey knew it had something to do with a deal of sorts that he made with Trent, but Rey really did not care.

All he cared about, was getting the hell out of the room.

The crew had been staring at him all day. Pointing, whispering...it was starting to piss him off. It was like he was some sort of celebrity, which he technically was. But at least they could keep quiet about it.

"...we are on standby. Orders from Chairman Trent are expected..."

Rey had tuned out.

_Suzuka-san..._

_Stop calling me that._

_Yes ma'am..._

SNAP!

Everyone in the room jumped as the pencil snapped in Rey's grip. He stared at the pencil, and then sighed,

"Sorry, sir, I wasn't paying atteniton."

Hayworth nodded, "I believe that's all for today. Everyone dismissed."

Rey collected the paperwork on the table and went to leave.

"Rey?"

He looked up at the Captain, "Sir?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, sir." he said.

"It's understandable that you're a little on edge after what happend. Go take the next shift off."

"Thanks."

* * *

Wandering down the hallway, he stopped and looked out the window. 

Gil had always told him to work hard, but know when to stop and appreciate the beauty around him. Maybe this was way he made Rey take piano, to keep him from being a working machine. Music had been the only thing that reminded him of staying himself. Otherwise he would have been gobbeled up by war, his job, and the memory of Rwu Le Creuze.

Because he WAS Rwu.

For the short time he had known him, Rwu had been like his elder brother. Always watching out for him, teaching him things, telling him about life...and it had hurt him when he learned that he had died. Although, there was part of him that always knew that Rwu was an evil, heartless, bastard. He never did or said anything to Rey directly, but all Rey had to do was look into the man's eyes. The same eyes that scared anyone into submission.

The same eyes Rey had.

They had not scared HER.

He was taken back by the sudden thought. Rey could not remember anything between his time on the base, and from when he was first awakened. Trent, Hersh, and Hayworth had made it perfectly clear that Orb and Eternity had brainwashed him into comming to their side. The Naturals were trying to use him as their weapon against his own people.

He hated them. But when he truly thought about it, he hated everyone.

But even though he did hate so many people, he TRIED to hate the red-haired girl that had screamed for him last night. The truth was that he just could not.

Was he crazy or just plain stupid?

Reaching his hand in his pocket, he took out the hair ribbon. It was familiar to him, and he could not seem to let go of it.

"Rey?"

He turned at the sound of Hayworth's voice.

"Yes?"

"Chairman Trent is on the phone. He says he has a job for you."

_A job_.

Following Hayworth to his office, he locked the door and turned on the computer. Trent smiled at him,

"Ah, Rey, how are you feeling today?"

"Fine, sir." he replied obediently, "I hear you have a job for me."

"Indeed." he said, "It concerns the potential fate of three defectors..."

* * *

_Questions, comments?_

_This week I think I'm going to jump onto the Bleach bandwagon and start a Bleach epic as well. After chapter 237 it's kind of ahard not too. Because I am such an OrihimexIchigo fan to begin with it was nice, but I think that after that chapter I'm more frustrated then before. I don't know, I guess I'll wait till the next chapter to see what happens._

_Have a great summer!_

_Arigato_

_Lilith_


	16. Chapter 16

_Okay, I am up to date with all my fics. That makes me really happy. I'll actually have time to work on things before school. Yay :D_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

* * *

He stood up and rubbed his arm over his sweaty brow. It had been a week since he had started working, although it felt a lot longer then that. 

He was getting frustrated. As hard has he tried, he could not remember the reason of why Micka was in the military.

Alex picked up the toolbox per Ralph's request, and slid down the metal ladder.

It was a random, strange thought...but it was something that had been nagging at him for a long time. He had a feeling that Katsuya knew, but he really did not want to have to ask over her head.

"You've worked hard enough, kiddo, come take a break."

Alex flopped down on the floor with Ralph and a few of the other interns, stretching out his long legs on the floor. He had shucked off his jacket a while ago, and the sleeves of his t-shirt were rolled up to his shoulders. Although he knew it looked girly and nerdy, he had braided his hair at one point. It was strange looking on a guy like him, but it was too hot out to worry about that sort of thing. They all looked like nerds anyway.

Ralph tossed a can of iced tea to him, Alex proceeded to down the entire can.

"You're good at this sort of thing." Ralph said, "It's good having a competant around."

His three interns groaned, and Alex raised his can as if to toast.

"Here, here." he said.

"One of the ladies in the mess hall says she heard you singing on the roof." Ralph said, "Says you're damn good."

"I should be." Alex took another can from another one of the interns, "I did concerts on PLANT."

"Ah, so you are THEE Vladamir Alexander."

"One and only."

Alex had been in the music buisness before his little detour to ZAFT. After Lacus Clyne had left, he had slowly taken over the limelight, and he was well known on earth and PLANT. Although only two CDs had released before his departure, they insured him to be independently wealthy when he returned to his old life. It had only helped him when Lacus left PLANT, although, he would be lying if he said he was glad. He had always been a fan of Lacus Clyne himself.

"Gezz, man." one of the interns looked at him, "What the hell are you doing in this line of work? It doesn't really pay all that great."

Alex chuckled, _yeah, it was odd for someone like him to be in the military._

"I did gigs for ZAFT." he said, "I've never been a big fan of politics, but I agreed to anyway." He really did not know why he was telling these people his story, but he felt more relaxed on the Kamaitachi then he had in ages, "It was right after Lacus Clyne jumped ship and decided to go to the other side. This side, rather...anyway, I was at a backwater ZAFT base on earth. It was part of this massive tour I was doing, and it was small but the people were nice."

"So?" Ralph caulked an eyebrow at him, "You just decided then to dump your job and fight for a living?"

Alex knew that Ralph was annoyed at this sort of thing, he could read the older man like a book. Ralph could not understand why Alex would want to give up his life for...whatever THIS was.

"While I was at the base, it was attacked." he said, "Or rather, caught in the crossfire of a battle between ZAFT and OMNI. Almost everyone, civilians and soldiers, were killed. I was one of the few that managed to survive, barely anyway. Many of my staff were killed too. It was agreed to keep the whole incedent secret, but that didn't mean I lived any better. Just because the government wants to forget, doesn't mean that I can forget it. Bombs, people dying, screams...a person just does not get over that."

All of them were staring intently at him now.

"I don't give a shit about whether people are Coordinators, or Naturals, or whatever the hell people are all pissed off about...humans are humans, and no amount of genetic crap can change that. But I don't like this war, and I don't like it when innocents are killed for no reason. So if I have to bend over, kiss a few butts, and work a little harder then I used to...I can live with that. Yes, I've had to kill people, but this is war. I live with it everyday, but I would still tell people that my conscience is clear because for every battle I fight, may save even one of those little villages. That's victory enough for me."

There it was, his life statement.

Apparently, Ralph seemed to settle with that.

"You've had a hard life, kid."

"I suppose." Alex shrugged, "It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it."

Ralph chuckled, "Here, here."

* * *

After the work for that day was finished, Alex stretched his arms, excused himself, and reported back to his quarters. 

He had his own room this time, which was a pip for him. Usually, he shared a room with Katsuya, if there even was a bed or a room for that matter. Some of the survival missions they had gone on back in their early days, involved nothing but the ground and the sky. Of course, like the gentlemen they were, if there was a bed it was automatically given to Micka. She would usually throw a fit, but would give in.

The two of them would actually never tell people that Micka scored higher then they did in survival training. It was their one of the only few shames in life that Alex had, and he knew that Katsuya stewed about it sometimes.

Micka looked like a creme puff. She was short, REALLY short. With hair that brushed her shoulders, her dark eyes, and pale complection could give people the opinion that she was very fragile. This was a big mistake, as Alex shuddered at the thought. Micka was more dangerous then either of them. Although her forte was not mobile suit piloting, which Katsuya was the one that excelled at that, she was top notch at everything else. If anyone ever asked Alex who had what skills in the group, he probably would say Katsuya for marksmanship and command, himself for engineering and hand-to-hand, and Micka for everything of the above.

There was a beep of the doorchime.

"Come in." he called, slipping a clean shirt over his head.

Micka stood there, staring at him from the doorway.

"Yo, Mic." he looked at her curiously, "What's up?"

"Nothing." she shrugged, "I just got off duty, so I was going to see how everyone was doing."

"Katsu probably isn't going to be off duty for another 4 hours. They're really workin' him hard."

"That's too bad." she said, "We all need rest."

He was quiet a moment, and then asked, "You want somethin?"

"Sure."

Making a pot of coffee, he handed one to her. She liked black coffee.

"What have you been up to?"

"Analysis." she said, "HQ needed help, and then I worked with Vana for a while."

"Vana?"

"She's the Kamaitachi's OS, who happens to also be an Advanced. Her name is Vanalivka Evenstar."

Alex raised his eyebrows, "I'll be damned."

"She's a nice girl. You should go say hi to her when you can. She's very wise too."

Alex nodded, and took another drink of his coffee. He had been trying to cut down on the alcohol lately, it was starting to get a little into the extreme. Having just turned 21 that year, he did not want to be diseased and immobile before he reached mid-life.

"You look troubled." she finally said.

Alex thought a moment on whether or not he should say anything. Hell, whatever it was, it was probably really bad. In the five years that he had known her, she had never laughed or smiled once. Sometimes it troubled him. Even with Katsuya, Alex was surprised that Katsuya was as expressive as he was becausue despite his life story, Katsuya laughed and smiled from time to time. Alex's nature was too straight forward for him to be able to hide emotions very well.

Micka, however, was a brick.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"Sure."

"I mean...you don't have to answer if you don't want to..."

"Okay."

"If it's something bad-"

"Alex, what's your question?" she narrowed her eyes at him. He was rambling.

"Micka..." he gritted his teeth, "Why did you join ZAFT?" he finally managed to blurt out.

Micka opened her mouth, and her face went instantly pale.

He frowned, "Micka? Are you-"

"I'm sorry." she interrupted him, standing up quickly, "I have to leave."

"Micka?" he was worried now, she looked like she was going to faint, "You okay?"

Micka turned heel and headed towards the door. He was on his feet as fast as he could go, and grabbed her arm. She struggled in his strong grip. The only reason why he was stronger was because she was a lot smaller then he was.

"Micka?" he said, "What is it? I'm sorry, I didn't-"

A hand connected with the side of his face.

"LET GO OF ME, DAMN IT!"

It took him by surprise. She never displayed the amount of raw feelings before, and obviously, it shocked her as much as it shocked him. The moment she struck him, she stared at him, hand still raised, staring at him like she had seen a ghost. Her black eyes looking at him in horror.

Alex opened his right eye, she had struck him on the left side of his face. There was already a throbbing bruise there, and no doubt his lip had been split. She had hit him hard.

"I..." she was the first one to speak. But for some reason, she could not seem to move, or stop the tears that were pouring down her face.

He did not know what it was that triggered this sudden turn, but whatever it was, now they did not have any idea what to do with each other. Ignoring the fact that half of his face was in pain, and the fact that there was now a steady trip of blood dripping down his chin from his lip, he stepped foreward and gathered her up into his arms.

"I'm sorry." he said, "I didn't mean to pry."

Pry? Hell, all he had did was ask her a simple question and she snapped.

_It must be something really bad._

She was quiet, not saying anything. His best guess was that she was in shock, she looked like she was going to faint. Taking her hand he lead her threw the hallway towards the kitchen, poured a glass of water for her, and shoved it in her hands.

"Drink."

"Ah-"

"Drink it now."

When she was moving too slowly, he gripped her hand and lifted the glass to her lips. After drinking a few sips, he looked at her in the eyes.

"Are you going to be alright?"

She nodded slowly. He aided her in taking another sip, and then when he was certain she could do it herself, he let go of her hands. They simply stood in the kitchen a few minutes in silence. Then looking at his face, she touched his chin.

"I hit you."

He felt the edges of his lips twitch into a smile, "You did."

"I'll fix it."

"Nah, that's okay. I'll go to the infirmary-"

"I'll do it."

Alex shrugged in defeat and sat on the counter. Fishing threw the kitchen and the bathroom, she set a few supplies on the counter. Rinsing a cloth in warm water, she began to clean the blood off him.

"I'm sorry." she apologized, "I didn't mean to snap like that. It just sort of happend."

"It's okay." he said, "I was the one who asked."

He flinched slightly as she cleaned the blood of his lip, and pressed a bag of ice to the side of his face.

"You'll have a bruise."

"I assume so."

She sat at the table, looking at the floor.

"Micka?" he said, getting worried again.

"The reason why I'm in the military is-"

She did not finish the sentece. An air raid siren went off, followed by the battlestations alert on the ship.

* * *

Yzak strolled down the hallway of the Voltaire. It was nice to be back on his own ship. Since he had become captain of it, it felt like his home now. He lived there, worked there, and practically knew the ship as well as the back of his hand. 

Shiho was talking to him and handing him reports. Something about the status of the ship and the crew, then the mobile suits...he was too tired to listen. All he wanted to do was crash. After a twelve hour shift, that was the only thing his mind could process.

"Sir?"

It was so odd when she addressed him formally when they were on duty. His own fiance called him Captain Jule.

Realizing where they were, he yawned and took a left at the next to corner.

"Captain-"

"I'm tired, I'm sore, and I want sleep." he announced to her, heading towards his quarters. That was it.

Shiho let out a sigh and followed him. Punching in the code for his room, the door slid open. Shuffling the papers, Shiho tucked them under the right arm.

"I'll let you sleep. It's been a long week." she said, "I'll go back to the bridge and-"

She was glad no one else was in the hallway to hear her scream as he yanked her into his room by the waist.

"No more work." he murmured into her ear.

She slammed into the wall right in front of the door, and he crashed his mouth over hers as the door slid shut. He took the stack of files from her arm and set them aside. Then promptly resorted to stripping off her uniform.

* * *

"Understood." Rey stated to the com link in his room. Chairman Trent nodded to him, 

"Good. Don't leave until you complete the mission."

"Roger that."

The link blinked off. He was currently on a ship heading towards Orb. After departing from PLANT four days ago, he spent the rest of the week on a Twilight base working out the legistics of the mission, and assembling the fleet.

There were three Nasca-Class warships. Of course the fleet was massive, but _three_?

Personally, he thought it was overkill. All they had to do was kidnap Cagali Yula Zala again and that would give them enough leverage to do what Trent wanted. But apparently, Chairman Trent was getting to the point where he wanted to finish this war.

Orb was only an hour away, and he was pretty sure they were being detected now. Soon, Captain Hayworth would order him to the bridge. He would offer the negotiations, and if Orb complied, nothing would happen. If they resisted, he would resort to Plan B.

The old friend of his that sat in the docking bay. That was a Plan B.

"Rey-dono?" Hayworth's face came threw the laptop screen, "Can you report to the bridge? We've been detected."

"Right away, sir."

He stood, and walked towards the door. Absently sticking his hand into his pocket, he rubbed the ribbon between his fingers. Soon, he would be able to get rid of the nagging feeling in the back of his mind. The feeling that told him something was wrong.

Rey had been taught to only follow data, logic, and what he could see, sense, and understand with his own mind. His instincts were telling him to rethink everything. Fortunatly, instincts did not fall into the above catagories.

But that still did not make the feeling go away.

* * *

Yzak lay on his back, sound asleep. His fiance curled up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. What he really wanted to do was jump ship and spend the rest of the month on some vacation with nothing but beach, birds, and Shiho...but that was not an option. 

_Damn it, when were they going to get married anyway?_

It was obvious that this war was not going to be ending for a while. By the time it was over, they would probably be old and grey.

"Shiho?"

"What is it?"

He smiled, feeling her finger tracing the outlines of the muscles on his chest. She had a habit of doing that when she was listening intently to him.

"Let's get married next week."

She shot up, looking down at him. There was a sly smirk on his face.

"Wh-What?"

"Next week." he said, "We'll get cleaned up, dressed up, call a few people, jump in the car, and go. Malchio will do it. We can afford a few days of freetime. If anything Asuka and Hawke can take over things for a little while."

"Yzak...I-"

"What do you say, Mrs. Jule?"

She gapped at him, certain that he had at some point lost all his marbles. It was not like him to be so spontaneous. It was a valid question though, and one she had been pondering in her freetime.

"But the ship-"

"Can maintain itself for a while."

"My dress-"

"Lacus and Cagali-san will find you something."

"Everyone is so busy..."

"They'll make time for this."

She opened her mouth again to protest. It was a known fact that Yzak got what he wanted, and was good at arguing his point down to the last second.

"Okay." she finally sighed.

There was nothing she could do about it. But it seemed all the more worth it at the large grin on his face. When it came down to it, he was so easy to please when the matter concerned her. Leaning over, she slowly kissed him, feeling one of his hands lay gently on her face.

"Let's get married next week." she said.

"Good-"

There was a ring from his phone. Yzak made a face. _Who dared to call him while he was off-duty?_

Shiho lay on his chest, listening as he muttered a few curses, and picked up the phone. Flipping it open he groaned, rubbing his eyes,

"What?"

"Sorry to wake you, sir." It was Abby.

"Whatever it is, it better be important."

"It's important, sir."

"What the hell is it then?" he snapped, starting to get irritated.

"There is a large Twilight fleet approaching Orb. From the looks of it, there are three Nasca-class warships, carriers...a whole fleet."

Yzak stared at the ceiling. _You've gotta be kidding me..._

"Alright, I'll be there. Contact Zala, then call Elthman and tell him to get his ass over here."

"Yes sir."

He closed the phone, and lay still a few moments, not saying a word.

"Shiho?"

"Is it bad?" she asked.

Yzak closed his eyes, "Yeah."

She sat up, looking down at his calm face. He was so tired, laying a hand on his face, he pulled her face to him and kissed her. There was always a chance that this would be the last time they would be together.

"Duty calls." she murmured.

* * *

_Next chapter comming soon! See you all later :D_

_Arigato _

_Lilith_


	17. Chapter 17

_I needed something to do while I was up waiting to pick up my sister from a friend's house, so I decided to update my fics. The chapter after this will have a lot more action in it, but I had to use this chapter to set up for it. When I get ambitious enough, I'm going to try and set up a forum from my Eternity fics. I don't know when exactly, but eventually. _

_The next update will probably not be until September. Unless I get a little more free time, I'm going to be booked. College starts soon, and I haven't done any packing yet. Shame on me.  
_

_Review and tell me what your thinking :D_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

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Suzuka could sense it from where she was, staring out of the window of the hospital. They had been set to release her tommorrow, but now she had to leave. Her shoulders were still sore, but there was not much she could do about it.

"Damn it, damn it..."

Letting out a string of vicious curses, she ran down the hallway to her room, and began pulling her uniform on. Drapping her captain's jacket over her shoulders, she ran towards the enterance. The door opened, and Frigg stared at her.

"Frigg-sempai." she looked at the woman.

"I have a jeep ready. Come on."

They raced down the road towards the airfeild. Suzuka drew a piece of white cloth from her pocket, and used it to bind her hair.

"What's the situation?"

"A fleet is headed this way. Enough manpower, ships, and mobile suit to completely level Orb."

"Damn it." she frowned, she let herself space out for too long. She could have done something to prevent it if she had not been...sulking..., "And the Kamaitachi?"

"They are on high alert. I'll be heading to Trinity after this. Hans is in the Pacific, he'll be here shortly. Ralphael was in the Philippines. It'll take him a while to get here. My ship is prepped for battle, the Kamaitachi was just finishing the updates."

Suzuka sighed, slipping her arms into her jacket, and buttoning it. Finally wearing her glasses again, she could see better, and it hurt her eyes less to work late.

"Have they sent any explination yet?"

"None."

They stopped at the ship,

"Good luck, Suzuka." Frigg smiled, "I'll follow your lead."

"Thanks, you too, Sempai."

"Oh, Suzuka?"

She stopped, looking back at her commrade. Frigg chuckled, "Cedric and I are getting married next August."

Suzuka smiled, "You'd better invite me."

"Of course."

Before she drove off, Suzuka caught sight of the golden engagement band on the captain's hand. Feeling a tugging sense in her chest, Suzuka turned around and ran towards her ship.

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Having been aroused and called into duty while he was asleep, Ezekiel was half-awake when he pulled himself onto the bridge. His hair was sticking in every direction, and he was still trying to put his uniform on as he went down the hallway. He had spent most of the night tunning in his hacking skills by hacking into the Eternity files and changing his personal files so that it said he was 65 years old, with purple eyes, and that he was ten feet tall. Whoever would look at his files next would probably be surprised.

The hatch opened as he walked past, and Suzuka climbed in. He was in the middle of hopping on one foot as he was putting on his boots while making his way down the hall.

"Captain!" he smiled.

"Ezekiel." she shut the hatch, "Just wake up?"

"Yes, captain." he nodded.

"Looks like there's trouble. Did you get any rest at all?"

"Some." he said, "Seriously, captain, they gotta find someone else that has the same skills as me. I spent the entire week going from ship, to ship, to HQ updating systems."

"I highly doubt that I'll be able to find someone like that, but I'll make a note of it." she replied, he chuckled.

He was quiet for a moment as they headed for the bridge.

"I'm sorry about Rey-san." he said, "If it helps any, everyone here is upset too."

Suzuka was quiet, and then she smiled saddly at him, "I'll live. Vana?"

"_Captain! It's good to see you_!" Vana's voice beamed at them, "_Welcome back_."

"Thanks. Status report?"

"_All updates and repairs done on time_." she said, "_Status is normal_."

"Good." she said, "Send a message to high command and tell them I'm here. I will take charge of operations of all Eternity ships. Hail Captain Jule, and tell him that we are on standby for further orders."

"_Aye, ma'am_."

"Vana, will you do another favor for me?"

"_Anything_."

"Will you pull up the file of Rey's last CT scan and send them to my office?"

There was a pause. Ezekiel gave his captain a wary look.

"Vana?"

"_Understood_."

"Good."

The doors opened to the bridge, and everyone stared up at them. There were smiles, greetings, and a hug from Tess. Cedric, however, was not in a good mood. Which surprised Suzuka, because he was finally getting married after waiting for so long.

"Commander." she smiled, "Thank you for doing everything for me."

"No problem." he said, "I promised I would fire him out of a missile tube if anything happened to you."

"Cedric-"

"I guess we'll have to resuce him now." he smirked, "Because I carry out my threats."

She knew he was joking, but could not help but smile anyway. Her brother stood on the bridge, smiling saddly at her. As far as she knew. June did not even know he was on the Kamaitachi yet. Everyone knew there were three defector Twilight soliders on board, but no names were released.

When all of this was over, it was matter that Suzuka intended to bring up.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Hail..." Hayworth scanned over the view of the Eternity airfeild. The fleet was holding it's position, and now he was trying to decide which ship to send their demands to.

"This ship." Rey pointed to the radar, "This one will be chosen at the lead ship."

"Why this one?"

Rey frowned, staring at the red and white battleship, "Everyone else seems to be closing off all communication lines to this ship, and the head quarters. They are all linked to it. It also seems to be taking the lead."

"Very well."

"I will make the demands. Open a channel."

"What? That wasn't part of the plan-"

"Do it."

Hayworth glarred at the young man, and then repeated the orders to the CIC controller.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Captain-" Tess sat at her station. Her hair was still damp from jumping out of the shower in a flash, "-we're being hailed by the flag ship."

Suzuka sat in her chair, and sighed, "Get me Athrun-san and Cagali-sama on a line first."

"Aye, ma'am."

Cagali stared back at her from the control tower. Athrun's voice came from the background as he shouted orders to everyone else.

"We're being hailed, mi'lady."

Cagali frowned, "They probably want to negotiate our surrender."

"Mi'lady, you're not-"

"Of course, we're not." Cagali said, "Find out what they want. I'll keep this line open and monitor it. Apparently, if they are hailing you and not me, for some reason they want to speak to particular people."

"Understood." Suzuka nodded, "I'll keep in touch."

"Good. Out."

Suzuka bit her lip, "On screen, Tess."

There was a man that came on the screen.

"Captain Hayworth." Suzuka said.

"This is a pleasant surprise. Who would have expected the meek, silent assistant of a red elite was actually the one in command herself?"

Suzuka stood and put her hands on her hips, "Although I disagree with your political convictions, Captain, I do respect you as a fellow solider."

"The feeling is mutual, Captain Kiriyuhi." he said, "By he way, how are your injured shoulders?"

He was sneering at her now, and she wanted to shoot that smirk off his face. Gritting her teeth, she replied,

"I am well, thank you." she said, "Next chance I get, I'll have to pay you back for the hospitality."

"Oh, I don't deserve it." he said, "It was really all thanks to Za Burrel."

Suzuka glared at him, he had meant to sting her and he had done just that.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Za Burrel has a few demands to make."

Her fists tightened slightly, and the color drained from her face. Katsuya frowned, stepping beside her.

"Suzu-"

"I'm alright." she gritted her teeth, "He's attacking me...no...Chairman Trent is attacking me and the rest of Orb. I can handle it."

Katsuya sighed, "You were always stubborn, Suzu."

She gave him a sad smiled, and stood up again, "Fine. Captain, put him on."

Hayworth glared back at her, half-expecting her to say no. He turned and gave a few orders so someone besides him.

Rey walked into the screen, staring back at her. She bit her lip, and took a deep breath,

"Mr. Za Burrel." she said, "What are Chairman Trent's demands?"

Rey stared back at the red-haired girl. So SHE was Captain Suzuka Kiriyuhi.

_Suzuka..._

"Three AWOL soliders." he said, "Micka Forrester, Vladimir Alexander, and Katsuya Kiriyuhi are to be returned to us at once."

"I refuse."

Rey frowned, "Chairman Trent has assured me, that I have his authority to order the systematic destruction of Eternity and Orb if it is refused."

Suzuka frowned, looking at Katsuya. She had just found her brother again. He was someone who had a life. His wife, his family, his team mates...he was trying to rebuild a life for himself. Away from the killing of innocents and the tyrants who were trying to take over everything. She could not let him give everything up again, just to be executed or tortured in some cell.

"If I can offer you something more important, would you take it?"

Rey looked at her, caulking his head to the side like he always did when he thought, "I do not see anything that you can offer me, captain."

"Myself."

There were a wave of gasps and shocked looks on the bridge.

"Suzuka!" Katsuya roared.

"Captain..." Cedric whispered into her ear, "...that was not our orders. I can not allow you to do this-"

"You're objection is noted."

"Captain, please reconsider. Twilight uses whatever dirty schemes it can. You have no-"

She gritted her teeth, "I said I get it, Cedric."

"But-"

She interrupted him, ignoring his protest, "What about it, Mr. Za Burrel? Would Chairman Trent be satisfied with me instead?"

Rey frowned at her, and then glanced off screen, nodding, "I will consult with my superiors." With this response, the screen flipped off.

Almost emediatly, Tess turned to glance at her captain, "We're being hailed by HQ and by the Voltaire, ma'am."

She had expected that, they probably had watched the whole thing. Captain Jule was probably furious, and Cagali was most likely even more enraged.

"On screen."

The split-screen produced two faces that glowered down at her. Cagali slammed her hand on the console,

"That was out of line, Kiriyuhi! You are lucky that I don't throw you in the brig!"

Yzak, on the other hand, was a little more able to control his anger. It seemed out of character for him, but he was still able to reply in a more sensible fashion.

"You don't have the authority to make such decisions, Captain." he told her.

"I can get back into PLANT, and figure out a way to gain access to Twilight facilities. I already know my way around them, and it will be easy to figure out the security messures."

"From inside a cell?" Cagali roared.

"I am trained professionally in stealth and security, ma'am. I will be able to manage it."

Yzak shook his head, "You are going after Za Burrel. This is a purely personal motivation."

Suzuka fell silent. That was part of it, more then half of it. But there was part that she knew, and knew that Cagali knew as well, that Suzuka would be able to take a crack and figuring out all the Twilight systems by observation alone.

"I am volunteering to do this, sir." she said, "Because it will be a good contribution to all sides."

Everyone was silent again, and it was making her nervous.

"Alright." Yzak replied.

"Jule!" Cagali called, "What-"

"She is right, m'lady." Yzak sighed, scratching his head, "It is the only incentive we can offer Trent. The three new officers we have will give us a lot more of an advantage."

Cagali sighed, and leaned back into her chair, "Alright, I give my permission. But when you return, Kiriyuhi, you will be re-evaluated."

"Yes, ma'am."

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Suzuka walked down the hallway of her ship. Cedric was trailing after her while he yelled, ranted, and raved behind her. The last words of the transmission ran through her head.

_Chairman Trent agreed with the compermise...you will be offered in equal trade with the three defectors. There will be a shuttle sent to the checkpoint right away...come alone and unarmed..._

The doors to her office opened. Sitting at her laptop, she pulled up the file that she had asked Vana to send her.

"...have you gone insane?" Cedric asked her.

"No." she said, "For the first time in my life, I want something."

He fell silent, and then stared at her curiously as her fingers flew across the keyboard, "What is that?"

"Brain scans. Rey's." she said, "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

He leaned over, and looked at what she was pointing at. At the base of Rey's skull, towards the rear of his head, there was a shadow on the scan. Suzuka frowned, and saved the file.

"What is that?" he repeated.

"Some sort of chip. I suspect they planted it when he was first cloned." she said, "That is whats controlling him."

"Why...why wasn't this reported before?"

"This were taken right before we left for the mission. No one has looked at them yet. I suspected that Twilight had done something like this and that was why they hadn't moved heaven and hell to get him back." she said, "They could use this to control him with a picture, or a gesture, or a word-"

She stopped, feeling herself going numb.

"What?" he stood straight.

"A word." she said, "Back at the Requiem War, with Chairman Dullindal, there were a record of three Advanced soliders that fought of the ship with Captain Neo Lorrnoke. They were controlled by block words or phrases. Drugs were too inefficiant, and sometimes destroyed the nervous systems of the subjects. A word would be subliminally programmed into the mind of the individual to control extreme pain."

"You think that's what was done to Za Burrel?"

"I'm certain of it. Once I remove this chip, he'll be free." she said, opening her desk drawer as she turned off the laptop, "Cedric, I trust that you will keep my ship safe."

"Yes."

"If something happends to me, I have left instructions to make you the official head of the Kamaitachi."

He frowned, "Nothing is going to happen to you. Don't say something like that."

Suzuka smiled, "If something DOES happen, I want you to be my ship's captain. I trust you, and you're a damn good captain."

"But I haven't been promoted to captain status yet."

Suzuka smiled at him, taking a small black box from her desk. Opening it, there were ID papers, a metal, and a few golden pins. She took out the pins and stuck them in the collar of his uniform.

"Now you have." she handed the box to him, "Congradulations, Captain Helms."

He stared at her, shocked. Suzuka threw her arms around his neck, giving him a strong hug.

"Thank you for everything you've done."

Cedric's face fell grim, he then said,

"You're not comming back without him." he said, "If you don't get him back, you're going to die trying."

Suzuka let go of him, and pushed up her glasses slightly.

"Take care of yourself, Cedric."

She left her office, and the doors shut behind her. He let out a sigh, looking towards the floor,

"You too, Suzuka."

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	18. Chapter 18

_Here's the next chapter. Send me a review and tell me what you think:D_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

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She kept telling herself that she was an idiot. This was a bad mistake she was making. It was against all the rulebooks, and it would probably get her arrested or barred from the military all together.

To hell with it.

Suzuka walked across the airfeild alone. The wind blew threw her hair, and she brushed it out of her eyes. Ahead of her, a Nazca class had landed at the far end of the feild to take her. There were a row of gaurds and soldiers waiting for her there. Captain Hayworth was even greeting her himself.

Lucky her.

Part of her thought she was stupid. If her father was watching her, he was probably rolling over in his grave by now. Throwing away her entire life for a man that shot her.

The Kamaitachi was far off now, slowly disappearing from sight. Katsuya was probably having a cow, and she shuddered at the idea of dealing with it when she got back, and she dreaded the thought. He was always so protective of her. Even when he was disowned and she was made head of the family, even when she had taken on all the daunting tasks of the buisness, even when she went threw the grueling hours of basic training, every day after practice he would visit her at the dorms, and every day she remembered seeing the look on his face after June had been deported back to earth.

That's how it had been back then. Naturals were hated by the Coordiantors. The moment that people had learned of June's existence, she had been shipped out the day she was released. Katsuya had stood in the airport and watched his young wife exiled from PLANT before his very eyes, and then went years without seeing her. He understood what she was feeling, and it was probably why Katsuya had let Suzuka go in the end.

The lights on the Nazca were growing brighter.

How would she get out of this mess?

Captain Hayworth snapped his fingers, and watched as the gaurds clamped irons on the Eternity captain's wrists. She glared at him, her green eyes seethed at him.

"Welcome aboard, Miss Kiriyuhi. It's an honor to finally meet you face to face."

"Cram it, Hayworth, I not in mood for your antics." she said, "I hated working with you undercover, and still hate you now."

"Well, well." he chuckled, "You have quite a mouth on you. Be careful, it may get you in trouble. You're already deep enough as it is."

"Oh my." she sneered, "I didn't know you cared. I guess your not the merciless bastard I thought you were. Let me ask you, Hayworth, how many torture sessions did you sit in with Cagali? Hm? Torturing a poor, injured, unarmed woman? It makes me sick-"

She gasped as he slapped her.

"Watch her mouth." he said, glaring at her, "The only reason why I haven't killed you where you stand is because someone higher up as ordered me not to."

"Really, is that a fact?" she murmured, a black bruise forming on her cheek.

Hayworth muttered a curse, "Get her on board. I have better things to do with my time than argue with this wench."

"Yes sir." the gaurd replied, dragging her on board.

He glared towards the direction of the Eternity base. It pained him that he was just a few miles away and Trent had still ordered him not to destroy the whole thing. Whatever was up the Chairman's sleeve, it better make up for this lost oppurtunity.

"Sir, you're orders?" someone called out.

"Set course for the base." he said.

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June stood on the observation deck of the Kamaitachi. She closed her eyes, and said a prayer for her friend. Knowing exactly how Suzuka felt, she made no objection. It was not her place to say anything, she would be a hypocrite. She did not even bother going to the bridge to watch the Twilight fleet leave with her captain and friend. It would just be even more painful.

She must have stood there for a while, she did not know how long. It startled her slightly when the door opened. It was late, the cleaning crew must have started their shift. God, how late was it anyway? It must be-

"June Kiriyuhi." a familiar voice called to her, "Looks like you haven't been sleeping again."

She gasped, turning around.

He had that same, snide smirk on his face. Maybe his hair was a little longer, his bangs hung a little too far in front of his eyes. But it was the same man. Only two people knew her real name. Suzuka...and her husband.

"Hey, tiger." she smiled, tear starting to form in her eyes, "I hear that you've been rocking the boat again."

"In a manner of speaking." he said.

She was instantly in his arms.

"I heard that three Twilight soliders were brought on board but they wouldn't say who it was. I never thought-"

He framed her face with his hands and kissed her.

"It's been too long." he said, "Way too long."

She smiled at him, and nodded.

"It's wonderful to be on the same side again." he said, "I don't know what I would of had to do...if I had to fight you..."

"That would have never happend." she shook her head, "Don't even think about it, Katsuya."

He smiled, "You're right."

Unbuttoning the top of her collar, ignoring the red tint on her cheeks, he took the dog tags off her neck. Her engagement band and wedding band were on them. Taking the rings off, he put them back on her hand.

"We can have our own lives now." he said, "No problem with that."

"No, none." she shook her head, seeing the golden band on his own hand.

They found themselves standing on the deck, watching the horizon. June frowned,

"What is going to happen to Suzuka?"

Katsuya frowned, "Cagali-sama is livid. I have a feeling she may disbar Suzu when she gets back, or at least, inflict some severe punishment on her. Unless Suzuka can actually make something usefull out of this ordeal, I see it as a total loss."

"I hope she's alright."

"So do I."

There was a sudden buzz through the com system,

"_Katsuya-san_?" Vana asked, "_I'm sorry to interrupt, but your needed in Captain's office_."

"Alright." he said, turning to June, he kissed her forehead, "Micka and Alex are around somewhere, they know about you. Go say hi, they really want to meet you. Don't take either of them seriously though, they are both a little...strange sometimes."

She giggled, "I'll do that."

Walking towards the door, it closed behind him. It was wonderful to be back with him again. Part of her invisioned some sort of romantic reunion with him, but neither of them really were that much of a romantic. He kissed her, put her rings back on, and that was it. June did not mind at all, she married Katsuya for who he was and she would not change that for anything.

For the first time in years, she was actually happy again.

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Katsuya stood in the elevator. He glowered at the doors, finding that even though he was thrilled to see June again, he was upset.

He let out a soft curse to himself, "Suzuka, you'd better know what you're doing."

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Rey stood in the office, staring at Captain Hayworth. From his intial appearance, it was not rocket science to determine that Hayworth was pissed off.

"Kiriyuhi is safely on board. I will conducting the interrogation in-"

"I would like to do it, sir."

He glarred at Rey, who glarred back. He was not easily intimidated.

"I don't think that's a wise idea Rey." he said, "She was part of the enemy that tried to-"

"I am aware of who she is, Captain." Rey replied, "I have the right to confront her myself."

Hayworth frowned, and rubbed his hands over his face. He had a headache forming, one that was worse then the person currently sitting in his brig.

"Fine." he said, "But there will be someone oberseving."

"Understood."

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Suzuka sat in the cell, staring at the ceiling. The handcuffs were rubbing painfully on her wrists and making them red and raw. The gaurd had a strange habit of clicking his teeth together that was driving her insane, and it was freezing cold. What were they planning to do...freeze her to death?

The door opened, "Get out."

They yanked her out of the brig and down the hallway. Glancing out of the window, she saw they were currently over the Pacific. Pulling her into a small room, she felt her heart bottom out of her chest.

Rey sat at the table, a file in front of him, staring at her.

She took an unconscious step back, but the gaurd shoved her in the chair none the less. Handcuffing her ankle to the chair, he left. Now she was alone again in a freezing cold room...with Rey.

"Your injured, do you require medical assistence?" he asked.

_Oh god..._

She said nothing.

They had stripped her of her uniform jacket to check it for bugs. It was stupid, but she gave them the benefit of the doubt. Instead, she wore her regular uniform skirt with the slits up the sides and the blue, sleeveless tank. The edges were rimmed with gold that matched her jacket. Underneath the sleeveless shift, Rey could see a white band wrapped over both of her healing shoulders. They were stitched and cleaned, close to almost completely healed. But Suzuka would never admit that they were sore, and the weight of the irons did not make it easier.

"Silence does not help you, Captain." he said, "Speak or I shall have the gaurds come in here and make you speak."

She shuddered, "I don't need anything from you."

Rey caulked his head to the side, "Suit yourself. You aren't any good to us dead, so I only offered to help."

She glared at him.

"I'm going to ask some questions, Captain, it's your choice to answer them. The answer will depend on whether or not you will be able to walk out of this office under your own will...or if the gaurds will have to carry you back to your cell."

She stared at him defiantly, "You can ask whatever you want. I won't tell you anything."

"For your own sake, you should."

Suzuka glanced to the side, and sat up straight. Whatever was going to happen now was her own fault.

Rey said nothing for a while, he only stared at her. What was going through his head?

"With all do respect, Mr. Za Burrel, ask me questions or let me go back to my cell."

"Why did you do it?"

"What?"

Rey stood up and leaned foreward on the table. She watched as he yanked the cord out of the sercurity camera.

"You know what I mean. Why did you kidnap me and force me to fire on my own people?" he said.

"Is that..." she gritted her teeth, "...that's what they told you? That's a lie."

"I am a ZAFT solider, Captain Kiriyuhi. I would never defect from my allies unless someone forced me."

"You left under your own will. They were planning to brainwash you into some fighting machine."

"I am a machine." he said, "I fight, I am a solider. It's what I do."

"No!" she snapped, "You are a human being. You don't deserve-"

"You don't know anything about me." he said, frowning.

"Don't you remember anything!" she yelled, "Don't you remember all the times you helped us save lives? Working together? The people on the Kamaitachi and the rest of Eternity will fight to get you back-"

"What? So you all can turn me into some fighting machine too?"

"Everything you ever did with us was under your own will!"

"Bullshit." he cursed, "I've heard everything about the little stint in the lab the day I was awoken. The only reason why you and everyone else wanted to kidnapp me was because you didn't want Twilight to use me against Eternity. Well, I'm not going to follow any more of your LIES."

He reached up and plugged the camera back in.

"Now, tell me the size of the Eternity fleet. Tell me everything you know..."

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Suzuka shivered again, laying on the cot in the cell. She sneezed, and sniffed again. Damn, she had a cold. Flinching, she gently touched her split lip. They had struck her once. It had not done any real damage, but it was a warning. But right now, she was focusing on the pain in her head to keep herself awake.

The door opened, and she sat up. Her head was spinning, and she was really too exhausted to deal with anymore. Then, she reminded herself that she was a prisoner on an enemy ship.

"Ah, Captain." Hayworth stared at her.

"Whatever it is, go away. I'm tired and I need sleep." she made a face, "I hear we have 2 hours till we reach the base. Are you planning to exhaust me to death? Because if you ask me, that's a pretty damn pathetic way to die."

"You still have a loud mouth, even in your situation."

"I try to be optimistic when I can."

"There's not a very large line between optimisium and immaturity, Captain."

"Whatever."

She was humoring them. Whatever information they were going to try to get out of her, she was not going to let them get it. Suzuka knew what she was getting into, she was not going to be outsmarted.

"I hear that you were uncoopertive in the interrogation.'

Suzuka said nothing.

"I'll tell you now, girl." he said, "Once we reach the base, I have orders to have you executed."

She froze.

"In Twilight, you are charged with high treason." he said, "Chairman Trent did think it was nobel of you to sacrifice yourself for Orb, your brother, and his team mates...but you are still in deep for that little stunt you pulled at the lab."

"I won't let you bastards use Rey." she said, "I won't stand here and watch you turn him into some lifeless killing machine. That's what you cloned him for, right?"

He chuckled, "What are you going to do about it, captain?" he replied, "You can't even hold a gun to him."

"I would rather kill him myself then watch Twilight turn him into something he's not."

There was silence.

Suzuka leaned against the wall, a look of annoyance and distain on her face, "Get the fuck out of here, Hayworth. I'm tired. If you have anything of merit to say to me, say it. If not, scram."

"You little bitch." he gritted his teeth, turning around, he marched out of the cell.

Rey watched the captain leave the cell, he frowned. He stood in the shadows of the brig, next to the doorway. Hayworth did not even seen him. Hearing the entire conversation, he stared at the floor.

_What was really going on?_

------------------------------------------------------------------

Suzuka woke with a jerk as a pair of gaurds grabbed her.

They had arrived at Twilight's base on earth. It was raining, pouring outside.

It was a huge base, constructed much like Carpentaria. Set up high over the water, she could see the ocean below. There was a small town a little ways off, but other then that she had no idea where she was.

After throwing her into a cell, she sunk back to the floor. They had taken the irons off her ankles, but her wrists were still bound tightly. The cuffs were digging into her skin, cutting her skin slightly. Struggling again, she made a face. The cuffs were on too hard for her to get out of them.

All she could do for the time being was lay and wait.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Katsuya swore loudly as he stood up in Cagali's office.

"How could we just let her go?" he roared, "Now Twilight has my sister and they're doing god-knows-what to her!"

"Calm down." the blond princess snapped. She was tired of everyone ranting. Generally, she was just plain tired. After getting back, all she had been doing was sorting out arguments and plans. Athrun had taken on most of the military weight, and Cagali was thankful that she did not have to balance that AND negotiations on her own shoulders, "We can retrieve her at any time, and with enough notice, we could sucessfully defend off any attack."

"What do you mean?" Cedric frowned, confused.

"We have a tracing signal constantly locked on her." Athrun explained, "Kira and Erica Simmons are monitoring the trace. Captain Kiriyuhi can also send short messages through the line if need be."

Katsuya gritted his teeth, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Cagali let out an irritated sigh, and the meeting continued.

------------------------------------------------------------------

He plodded down the hallway, stopping a moment to notice Micka standing on one of the balconies, alone. Turning, he walked out to her.

"It's is a hardship, sir." she said, "But you can't blame Cagali-sama for it. Suzuka-san was the one that made the choice."

"I know." he said, "I...she's the only family I have left now other then June."

"At least you have someone, sir."

Katsuya gasped, he frowned, "I'm sorry, Micka."

"It's okay, you didn't mean it." she paused, "Alex asked me yesterday...why I was in ZAFT..."

"You don't have to tell him. Tell him to come to me."

"I can handle it. I think I should tell him anyway." she stopped, looking at the night sky. There was a storm about a hundred or so miles out in the Pacific, "It'll be the fourth year tommorrow, you know."

"Yeah." his eyes glanced at her, worried, "Are you alright?"

She leaned on the railing, "As alright as I'll ever be."

Katsuya nodded, "If you need the day off-"

"No, work is good for me." she said, "Besides, we're too busy now."

He nodded again, "Go get some rest, Micka." putting his hands in his pockets, he strolled towards the door, "I was listening to the recording the other day. It was some pretty impressive stuff."

"Thanks."

"If Alex ever found out..." he trailed off.

Micka glanced at him, saying nothing.

"Nevermind." he said, "Good night, Angel."

Her eyes narrowed at the old nickname, and she turned back to the ocean as he left. Staring into the distance, she felt that if she stood there long enough she would be pulled under the ocean waves.

_You would laugh at me, wouldn't you Satoshi?_

Looking upwards, her hair fell in front of her eyes, covering her face. A raindrop fell from the sky and slid down her cheek like a tear. It was as if the sky was crying for her, because she could no longer cry for herself.

------------------------------------------------------------------

_I am currently editing the last chapter of part 2, and I am also working on a AxC interlude that I'll post eventually. Part 3 should be up in the near future. I don't know exactly when, but pretty soon. The last chapter of Part 3 will be up sometime between now and monday. _

_I hope everyone is doing well in the new school year. Ganbatte!_

_Arigato_

_Lilith_


	19. Chapter 19

_I decided to put in 2 chapters at once just so I could get them off my list of things to do. Enjoy :P_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny_

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Hayworth glared out the window, it was raining again. It was the rainy season, there was no much he could do about that, but it was still a pain. They had been unable to get any information out of Kiriyuhi since they brought her a few days ago. Trent had ordered to hold the execution until she gave them something useful, but he had changed his mind. The Chairman had other things to do then waste his time on her.

It was dark outside, pitch dark as if it was night. Looking at the clock, it was only 3 in the afternoon. The door opened, and the gaurds stepped in.

"The prisonar is being moved, sir." he said.

"Good."

They were carrying out her sentence today.

She coughed as they jerked her out of her cell.

"Gawd..." she murmured, "...I can walk, you don't have to rip my damn arm off."

"Shut up." the guard snapped.

Her ribs were sore, one of the was probably cracked. She knew she had a fever, and the gash on her forehead needed stitiches. The dried blood had caked into her hair and making her bangs stick to her forehead. The left lens on her glasses was broken, and it drove her nuts.

After the hours of interrogation, she figured they got fed up with her and decided to get rid of her. Suzuka held her head up as she walked down the hallway. One of the only useful things her father taught her, was that if she was going to go down, go down with pride.

Besides, everything was going according to her plans. There was no reason to panic.

Yet.

As she figured, they had only stuck two gaurds on her. With her fever and injuries, they figured she would not pose as much of a threat.

"Hey-" she glanced over her shoulder, "-only two gaurds? That's dumb."

They both glared at her. Suzuka chuckled, and glanced at the rain outside. From the two days she spent there, she had figured it was a two-mile swim to the land. With the injuries now, she would be okay. Once she got to shore, she woud be safe.

Besides, two days was more then enough to waste.

The doors opened, and they shoved her towards it.

"Get in."

Suzuka turned around, "No thanks..."

She flipped backwards, planting her foot in the face of the first guard. He grunted and fell to the ground in a heap.

The second guard let out a curse, drawing his gun, the bullet grazed her cheek. She had dodged it at the last moment, grabbing his collar with her cuffed hands, she flipped him over her shoulder, and to the floor.

She coughed as she leaned against the side of the jeep. The dizziness was starting to creep up on her, but she did not have long to rest. Soon, the alarms would go off and they would come after her. Turning around, she ran towards the airfeild. If she could just get over the railing that bordered the outside of the airfeild-

A gun fired, and she swore as she jumped out of the way.

"Nice try."

She stared into the blue eyes that bore into her head. Rey stood in the rain, holding a gun straight at her.

"Rey-"

"Trying to escape?" he said, "Hayworth was a fool to only put two gaurds on you. I would have put four. I've been watching, I knew that you would try to escape."

"They're going to kill me anyway. Let me go." she replied.

"No." he said, "Three days of memorizing our security and forces, our personel...that's impossible."

_Damn_...Suzuka frowned, "Then you'll have to come with me, Rey. Whether you want to or not."

He gasped as she rushed towards him. What the hell was she? He had never seen anyone fight like her-

The gun was knocked out of his hand before he could blink. Blocking her foot, he stumbled backwards, launching an attack of his own. She caught his fist, ducked under his leg...trying the best she could to keep up with him.

_I can't beat him like this._

All she had to do was get him to the ground. Suzuka heard the air raid siren go off in the distance...they were looking for her. She connected a punch with his face.

"There's looking for you!" he roared, "There's no way you'll get out of here alive! Even if I have to kill you myself!"

She coughed, her hair falling in front of her face. The tie had snapped, and it was soaked by the rain.

"I'll bring you back with me...even if I have to bring you back with force."

She rushed him again, and he braced himself. Suzuka slid to the side, narrowly avoiding his left foot, and grabbed his leg in her arms. The cuffs tugged on her arm, cutting further into her wrists. Rey yelped as she yanked both of them to the ground. He struggled to get up again, but paused in mid-movement.

She had his gun aimed straight at him.

"What are you going to do...shoot me?" he stared at her, his chest heaving.

"If I have to."

Rey could see her shaking. She could barely see straight, it would be so easy to take it from her. She would never shoot him-

_Why did he feel so confident that she would not? _The woman was his enemy.

The leaned foreward, "Give me the gun now-"

She fired.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Chairman Trent sat in the war room. The council stared at him, promising looks on their faces.

"The squads are already launched." he said, "There are a few PLANTs that are siding with Orb, we have more then enough forces to take care of them as well."

"What do you have in mind?" the council woman to his left asked.

"Begin a full scale attack. We've wasted too much time beating around these negotiations. Orb obviously has no feelings towards giving into our demands, patience is running thin."

"I agree." another councilman to his far right said.

"Commence the attack now." he said.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Martin stood in the elevator of the Eternal. He was quite sure that Lacus-sama was going to be upset with him for not taking his shore leave. Captain Ramius had brought him the papers, and he was instructed to leave tommorrow. Meyrin stood next to him, having stayed aboard as well, and they had been heading back to the bridge from the mess hall. They were supposed to be getting off a thirty-hours shift.

Then the distress signal came.

"...Copernicus is being attacked, sir." the helmsman told him over the com link.

"How many units?"

"Thirty. Four Nasca-class battleships. I'm detecting Zaku and GINN types." he piped, "Orders, captain?"

Martin DaCosta frowned, they were the only force in space now able to answer the call. They had already sent a message to Orb informing them that the battle had started. Chairman Trent was getting restless, and it was a most inconvienent time to attack. Orb was still on full alert, and Cagali was not happy about having to split up the forces. Some of the Eternal's crew had left on leave.

"How many pilots are still on board?" he asked.

"We have three sqauds, sir." Meyrin told him.

"Damn." he stood, "I'm launching...Commander Rhine take the helm..."

Meyrin watched him shout a few orders at the new commander. They had just sent Rhine last week, but he seemed confindent enough. DaCosta punched the button on the elevator to drop him off at the launch bay instead of the bridge.

"Sir-"

"I know it's dangerous, Miss Hawke." he said, "But we're short staffed."

She looked sadly at the floor, and then pulled a smile out.

"Good luck, captain." she said, "I wish you well."

"You too, Miss Hawke." he smiled back, "Take care of my ship."

"I will."

There were four floors left to the launch bay. She stood there, waiting, thoughts running through her head. It could be the last time she ever saw him. Gritting her teeth, she turned towards him,

"Promise me you'll-"

There were a pair a warm lips on hers. He kissed her, his hands tangling threw her long hair, pulling her with him as he floated backwards and leaned against the door. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and to his surprise, she was kissing him back with the same force.

Pulling back slightly, one hand still resting on her face, he stroked her cheek with his fingers.

"I promise I'll come back." he smiled, "We'll go get a cup of coffee at the mess hall, hm?"

She nodded, "Captain-"

The door opened, and she gasped as she felt him push her back. Reaching out towards him, her fingers slid through his. There were a slight smile on his face as he floated back into the launch bay through the door.

"Captain-"

"Take care, Meyrin." he said, "I know you'll make it through this."

"Wait-"

He reached foreward and locked the door from the outside as it slid shut. "Good bye, Meyrin."

She reached her hands towards the closed door. Tears appeared in her eyes, and she rest her forehead onto the door as the elevator slid towards the bridge.

"...Martin..."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Rey felt the bullet hit his left arm, the force of the gun fire made him topple over onto the pavement. As he was about to get back up, Suzuka grabbed his shoulders and rolled him over onto his chest.

"Wha-"

She planted a foot on the base of his back, sitting right on top of him.

"Get the hell off me!" he struggled.

She held her place. He watched as she hiked up the side of her skirt, she glared at him.

"Word of warning, Za Burrel-" she said, "-strip search your prisonars next time..."

Pulling up the back of her skirt, there was a small pocket knife strapped to her waist, she pulled it out, and Rey watched in horror as she switched out the blade.

"What the hell are you-"

"This is going to hurt."

Suzuka pulled his hair back, looking at the back of his head. She only had one chance to get it right. Rey jerked again, almost pulling her off.

"Hold still!"

"The fuck I will!" he snapped, "Get off!"

"Move again and you'll be a paralayzed from the neck down!"

Rey froze, "What-"

Suzuka heard him scream once as she sliced a small cut on the base of his skull, but he stayed still, knowing the gravity of the position he was in. She looked into the cut, seeing a small, metallic square. Digging in slightly, she sliced the square off.

He went limp.

Taking the microchip, she set it on the pavement, and plunged the knife it. The wires blinked a few times, and then they were still. Looking at it a moment, she stared at the still form of Rey. The cut on his neck was deep, but she had not cut anything vital, his life was not in danger.

"Rey?"

_Oh god, what if she was wrong_? What if it was some sort of device that was sustaining his vital system functions? She would never forgive herself if something happened to him because of her.

"Rey?" she lightly shook him. Her vision was starting to blur, and the dizzyness was so bad she could barely think, "Rey...wake up...wake..."

There was a thunk as she fell off him onto the ground, passing out.

---------------------------------------------------------------

He opened his eyes.

_Where was he?_

He was soaking wet, laying on the pavement of some airfeild, wearing a red ZAFT uniform. If it had taken more then a second for all the memories to dawn on him, Rey was pretty sure he would have thought he'd gone insane.

Taking check of himself, he found that his arm was shot, there was a deep gash in his neck, and he was pretty sure he got whacked around a few times.

_Oh my god..._

He had shot Suzuka.

"SUZUKA!"

He sat up quickly, a look of horror on his face. Looking around, he tried to get his bearings. Rey heaved himself to his feet, scanning the area around him to see if she was there.

Twilight had somehow erased his memories, turned him against his own allies, he had shot Suzuka, spent the last week and a half working for Twilight, and now he was-

There was a still form laying in the ground about five feet away from him. Suzuka lay on her side, her beautiful hair spread around her, sticking to her face. Her clothes were ripped and torn, and there was a trail of blood coming from both edges of her lips.

He felt a wave of panic rush over him.

"Suzuka!" he ran towards her, sliding on his knees, he turned her up into his arms, "God...wake up!"

He shook her shoulders, watching for any signs of life. Rain hit her face and mixed with the blood smeared on her face. A strand of hair fell in front of her face.

"Suzuka!"

There was a soft noise that came from her. Her eyes cracked open, and she stared into his eyes. Rey stared down at her in horror.

"...R...ey..." she then smiled, "...you...okay?..."

"I'm just fine." he said, "That was a stupid, idiotic thing to do! I could have killed you!"

There was a sad smile on her face as her head rest against his shoulder, "...glad...you're back..."

She went limp in his arms again.

"Suzuka!"

He gasped as a flood light washed over them. Looking up, Hayworth sneered,

"I thought she would try to escape." his eyes strayed over to where the knife stuck out of the ground, the shattered, tiny pieces of the transmitter all of the concrete. He made a face, noticing the blood running down Rey's neck, "Troublesome. I suppose we'll just have to plant another one."

"The hell you will." Rey stared at him, "I already said I wouldn't join Twlight."

"You belong to us, Rey." Hayworth replied.

Rey slowly stood up, scooping Suzuka up into his arms.

"I will give her points for being brave." the Twlight captain chuckled, "She was brave to come and face everything alone."

Rey's hands tightened around her.

"Well, she's not alone now." the blond pilot said, "And I think we've both worn out our stay here."

"Thanks, kid." the older man smirked, "There's ocean surrounding this entire base. You'll never make it out."

Rey's eyes narrowed, "Wanna bet?"

Hayworth gasped, "Shit..." he turned to the gaurds, "Get them back now!"

Rey turned around, running break-neck speed towards the guard rail. He could hear the gunfire behind him.

"Za Burrel!" Hayworth yelled, "Stop! You'll kill yourself and the girl!"

Rey did not hear him as he vaulted up onto the guard rail. He threw himself over the edge, sailing towards the ocean.

"ZA BURREL!" Hayworth roared over the edge of the railing.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Suzuka's eyes opened, she looked up at Rey. He gritted his teeth, wrapping his arms around her even tighter.

"Hold onto me, Suzuka." he said, "Hold on and don't let go..."

They plunged into the raging waves of the ocean.

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_This is the final chapter of part 2, I hope everyone enjoyed the story thus far :D, I have enjoyed writting it. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap up the story in part 3, but at the movement I have no idea how long that story will be. _

_If you've never left a review for my story before, I encourage you to do so. Not because I'm begging for reviews well, I guess I sort of am, but mostly because I'm curious to see how many people actually read the story. Just curiousity. _

_I might post a short preview of the next part, so keep on a look-out for that! _

_Thank you everyone for reading my fics._

_Arigato_

_Lilith_


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